Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Reading Regional/Carl A.Spaatz Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bern Township, Pennsylvania 19605
Wednesday, September 5, 2001 13:13 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After takeoff, the pilot reported "an engine problem," but did not elaborate. A witness on the ground saw that the left engine was trailing smoke, but the engine was still operating, and did not sound like it was "missing". When asked by the tower controller if he required assistance, the pilot answered "no". The controller cleared the pilot for left traffic to a landing, and provided the current weather. There were no further transmissions from the pilot. Smoothed radar tracking data revealed that the airplane turned toward a left downwind, and leveled off at 1,400 feet msl (about 1,050 feet agl) and 156 knots. During the next 14 seconds, the airplane descended to 1,100 feet and increased airspeed to 173 knots. Then radar contact was lost. Witnesses observed the airplane variously in a right snap roll and a left wingover, followed by a sharp dive to the ground. The airplane had just undergone maintenance. During maintenance, unused oil was found in the left engine cowling, which the pilot admitted he had previously spilled. Following maintenance, the pilot was observed adding 3 additional quarts of oil to the left engine. The engine oil dipsticks were calibrated on both sides, with each side pertaining to the oil level in a specific engine. The side for the right engine was calibrated to read 1 3/4 quarts lower than the left engine. The airplane's wreckage was fragmented. No evidence of mechanical defect was found, nor was there any evidence of an extreme out-of-trim condition. There was also no evidence of engine failure, detonation, or pre-impact failure. The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate. He reported 3,210 hours of flight time to the operator, and had recently been cleared to fly the airplane on 14 CFR Part 91flights. The flight to the maintenance facility was the pilot's first solo flight in the airplane. An autopsy of the pilot revealed the presence of a prostate adenocarcinoma; however, according to his physician, the pilot was unaware of it.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of control for undetermined reasons, which resulted in a high speed dive to the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/5/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1313 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bern Township |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19605 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 402250N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0755950W |
| Event Location Airport | Reading Regional/Carl A.Spaatz |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RDG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 290 |
| Airport Elevation | 344 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 110 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 344 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12620 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 5 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Allentown |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8PK |
| NTSB Number | NYC01FA223 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-8152141 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5668 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 24 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 6204 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Panda Air, Ltd |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 245 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ferndale |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12734 |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RDG |
| Departure City | Reading |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1311 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MGJ |
| Destination City | Montgomery |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - downwind |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2002 12:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 5151 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |