Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Monterey, Massachusetts 01245
Sunday, March 2, 2003 20:08 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot, his wife, and five children, were returning to Keene, New Hampshire (EEN), after a trip to Florida. During a stop in North Carolina, the pilot's wife called her brother to inform him that they were "unsure" of the weather at Keene and would be flying to Utica or Hamilton, New York, to stay with him. While en route the pilot's wife informed her brother that the weather at Keene was clearer then they expected, and they wanted to get the children home in time for school the next day. About 1 hour later, the pilot informed air traffic control that he did not like the weather at his destination, canceled his IFR clearance, and requested VFR advisories to an airport in Westfield, Massachusetts. The airplane landed at an airport in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, about 1900. The airplane departed from runway 29, about 2003. After takeoff, the airplane made a climbing right turn onto a northeast heading. The airplane continued on east-northeast heading and impacted terrain about 5 minutes after takeoff. The airplane was located at an elevation of about 1,920 feet msl, about 7.5 miles east of the departure airport. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any pre-impact malfunctions. An AIRMET for IFR conditions was valid for accident site at the time of the accident. One of the children remembered the airplane "landing somewhere dark" and the pilot not being able to locate a telephone. The weather reported about the time of the accident, at an airport with an elevation of 1,193 feet, located about 15 miles north of the accident site, included a visibility of 8 miles, few clouds at 900 feet, a broken ceiling at 1,300 feet and overcast at 1,800 feet. The weather reported at EEN, which was located about 70 miles northeast of the accident site, with an elevation of about 488 feet, at 1855, included: a visibility of 1/2 statute miles; and an overcast ceiling of 100 feet. At 1955, the visibility reported at EEN increased to 3/4 statute miles; however, the ceiling remained 100 feet overcast. Astronomical data for the accident site area revealed that sunset occurred at 1744, and the end of civil twilight occurred at 1812.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper decision to attempt a visual flight rules (VFR) flight in marginal VFR weather conditions over mountainous terrain, which resulted in an in-flight collision with trees. Factors in this accident were clouds and night light conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/2/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2008 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Monterey |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01245 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 421238N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0731544W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PSF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1193 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.44 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 7 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16762 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 3 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1010 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2004 11:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Windsor Locks |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4072R |
| NTSB Number | NYC03FA061 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-40383 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 10 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4333.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ronald K. Ferris |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | East Swanzey |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 034446 |
| 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 | GBR |
| Departure City | Great Barington |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2003 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EEN |
| Destination City | Keene |
| Destination State | NH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 1 2004 3:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |