Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Falmouth Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Falmouth, Massachusetts 02540
Wednesday, November 21, 2001 12:32 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After the pilot requested a decent from his cruising altitude, he was instructed to squawk 1200 and switch to the advisory frequency at the destination airport; however, the pilot did not acknowledge the instruction. No further radio transmissions were received from the airplane. Witnesses reported observing the airplane descend to the water in a straight and level attitude, with the engines developing power. The airplane wreckage was located in 11 feet of water, about 5 miles south of destination airport. Review of radar data revealed that the airplane was descending at a rate of about 300 feet per minute, on a heading of about 190 degrees. The average groundspeed of the airplane during the descent was about 163 knots. The airplane was equipped with an autopilot. Examination of the autopilot annunciator panel by the Safety Board Materials laboratory revealed that the autopilot annunciator panel contained 15 indicators, each of which had one 28 Volt 60 milliamp light bulb. The filaments of each light bulb were examined with a binocular microscope with magnifications of up to 30X. Three of the filaments were stretched and deformed: "AP" (autopilot engagement), "FD" (flight director mode), and "HDG" (heading select/preselect mode). The results of the autopsy and toxicological testing on the pilot were unremarkable.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The incapacitation of the pilot for undetermined reasons which resulted in an in-flight collision with water.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/21/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1232 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Falmouth |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02540 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413120N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0703352W |
| Event Location Airport | Falmouth Airpark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 5B6 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 43 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FMH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 132 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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) | 13604 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 21 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1245 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2003 9:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA FSDO-01 Bedford, MA. |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3847Q |
| NTSB Number | NYC02FA032 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 95-B55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TC-2379 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5100 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2324 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David R. Burke |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tewksbury |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 01876 |
| 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 | None |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LWM |
| Departure City | Lawrence |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1156 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 5B6 |
| Destination City | Falmouth |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2002 9:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |