Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tompkins County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ithaca, New York 14850
Friday, August 24, 2001 5:42 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While departing from the airport, with the second-in-command (SIC) at the controls, the airplane impacted a fence, and subsequently the ground about 1,000 feet beyond the departure end of the runway. A witness on the ramp area south of the runway, stated that he heard the engines spool up; however, due to the fog, he could only see the strobe lights on the airplane. He then observed the airplane rotate about 3,500 feet from the departure end of the runway and begin to climb at a steep angle, before losing sight of it when it was about 150 feet above ground level. The weather reported, at 0550 was, calm winds; 1/2 statute miles of visibility, fog; overcast cloud layer at 100 feet; temperature and dew point of 17 degrees Celsius. Excerpts of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcript revealed that the flightcrew discussed the prevailing visibility at the airport on numerous occasions, and indicated that it appeared to be less than one mile. Examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies with the airframe or engines. According to the FAA Instrument Flying Handbook, "Flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) can result in sensations that are misleading to the body's sensory system...A rapid acceleration, such as experienced during takeoff, stimulates the otolith organs in the same way as tilting the head backwards. This action creates the somatogravic illusion of being in a nose-up attitude, especially in situations without good visual references. The disoriented pilot may push the aircraft into a nose-low or dive attitude."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain a proper climb rate while taking off at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation. Factors in the accident were the low visibility and cloud conditions, and the dark night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/24/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 542 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ithaca |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14850 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423005N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0762824W |
| Event Location Airport | Tompkins County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ITH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 320 |
| Airport Elevation | 1070 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 550 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ITH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1087 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13511 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 24 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2003 9:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FSDO-23 Rochester |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N153TW |
| NTSB Number | NYC01FA214 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Learjet |
| Aircraft Model | 25 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 53 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 15000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 21 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 252 |
| Airframe Hours | 12486 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ameristar Jet Charter Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4400 Glenn Curtis, Suite 202 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Addison |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75370 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ITH |
| Departure City | Ithaca |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 542 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JXN |
| Destination City | Jackson |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2003 12:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 6600 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |