Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Seaman's Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Factoryville, Pennsylvania 18419
Friday, August 8, 2003 7:49 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The instrument rated pilot was cleared by air traffic control to execute the published VOR instrument approach procedure into his destination airport. Witnesses stated that the weather was foggy with forward visibility ranging from 0 to 100 feet. The witnesses heard the airplane fly over the airport with a low engine rpm, followed by an increase in rpm and the sound of trees breaking. The airplane came to rest about 100 yards northwest of runway 4/22 in heavily wooded terrain. The published inbound course for the VOR approach was 309 degrees, and the minimum descent altitude (MDA) utilizing Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania's, altimeter setting was 1,860 feet msl. The published weather minimums included a 600-foot ceiling and a 1-mile visibility. A hand held global position system (GPS) receiver was located near the main wreckage. Information downloaded from the receiver revealed that the entire flight was recorded. The GPS began recording at 0716:31 and ended at 0749:44. A review of the last 1 minute and 3 seconds of recorded data revealed that the airplane was headed 299 degrees, then initiated a turn to a heading of 017 degrees as it flew over the runway. While descending from an altitude of 2,000 feet to 1,268 feet mean sea level, before the data ended. Two instrument approach plates (one was Jeppesen and the other N.O.S) for the VOR or GPS-A instrument approach were found in the airplane wreckage. On the backside of the Jeppensen approach plate was an airport diagram of the airport. A review of the diagram revealed the trees located along the northwestern boundary of the airport were at an elevation of 1,287 feet. The published airport elevation was 1,209 feet msl.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper in-flight decision to descend below the published minimum descent altitude while executing a non-precision approach in instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in collision with trees. A factor was the fog.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/8/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 749 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | FACTORYVILLE |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 18419 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413528N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0754504W |
| Event Location Airport | SEAMAN'S AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 9N3 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1209 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 754 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 174 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AVP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 962 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| 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) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| 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) | 16094 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 8 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 911 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | ALLENTOWN FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6373C |
| NTSB Number | IAD03FA070 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-7840081 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2250 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| 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 | VICMAR AVIATION, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | PHOENIXVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19460 |
| 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 | PTW |
| Departure City | POTTSTOWN |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 716 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 9N3 |
| Destination City | FACTORYVILLE |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - circling (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 15 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| 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 | -- |