Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sylvania, Georgia 30467
Wednesday, February 26, 2003 12:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed with fog, no flight plan was filed, and the pilot was not instrument rated. A witness in the vicinity of the accident site reported that he saw the airplane clip a Comcast television tower, then saw parts falling off. He said it came across the road and in front of him. Then it nose-dived into the ground and exploded. Wreckage debris was located in a wooded grass area near the tower. Examination of the wreckage disclosed that one propeller blade displayed leading edge saw tooth nicks and gouges and was bent and twisted aft approximately 50-degrees. The other propeller blade was bent aft approximately 70-degrees from the hub. Further examination of the right wing assembly disclosed about a two foot wide section of the wing was found separated into two-pieces, and found near the base of the tower. The separation area was cut uniformly from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the wing and continuing through the two feet wide center section of the aileron. Witnesses also stated that the visibility in the area was poor do to foggy conditions. Local authorities also confirmed that when they arrived on-scene it was very foggy and visibility was extremely poor. The nearest weather reporting facility at the time of the accident was Bulloch County Airport in Statesboro, Georgia, recorded at 1202, were winds from 110-degrees at 4 knots; 4 statue miles of visibility with overcast at 600-feet. Temperature was reported at 15-degrees Celsius, dew point 12-degrees Celsius, and an altimeter setting of 30.07. According to a weather depiction chart recorded at 1600Z, Sylvania, Georgia and the surrounding area reported instrument weather conditions with ceilings less than 1,000 feet and or visibility less than 3 miles.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to conduct VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to maintain obstacle clearance. Related factors were the guy wire and the fog.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/26/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Sylvania |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30467 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 324259N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0813747W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1202 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TBR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 187 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 84 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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) | 16451 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 26 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1248 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N54406 |
| NTSB Number | ATL03FA049 |
| 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-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-7440050 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Airamb of Bucks County Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 182 W Court St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Doylestown |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 18901 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Harry B. Steinbach |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1722 Turk Road |
| Operator City | Doylestown |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 18901 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Unknown |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Unkown |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 2 2004 2:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |