Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Spartanburg, South Carolina 29376
Sunday, October 26, 2003 22:10 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was cleared for the ILS runway 5 approach. The last recorded radar position showed the airplane at an altitude of approximately 1800 feet mean sea level, aligned with the runway 5 localizer 2.8 nautical miles from the runway threshold. A witness near the accident site heard the airplane's engines rev up, then heard popping and crashing noises and saw the airplane on the ground in flames. The wreckage was located in a wooded area 0.7 nautical miles from the runway 5 threshold about 950 feet to the right of the center of the runway 5 localizer course. Examination revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunction with the airframe or engines. A co-worker of the pilot reported the flight initially departed Spartanburg, South Carolina, as a business flight that morning. The pilot flew the airplane to Lawrenceville, Georgia, then to Lexington, Kentucky, and then to Evansville, Indiana. The pilot dropped off his last passenger in Evansville, Indiana, and elected to return to Spartanburg, South Carolina. A family member stated the pilot had a cold and "had the sniffles." A co-worker of the pilot stated he noticed the pilot seemed to have a cold two days prior to the accident, and he stated the pilot "seemed fine" the day of the accident. Forensic toxicology revealed 0.008 ug/ml, ug/g brompheniramine was detected in the blood, and brompheniramine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine were detected in the urine. Title 14 CFR Part 91.17, Alcohol or Drugs, states, "(a) No person may act ... as a crewmember of a civil aircraft ... (3) While using any drug that affects the person's faculties in a way contrary to safety ...."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow IFR procedures and descent below the glide path, which resulted in an inflight collision with trees during an instrument approach. A factor was the pilot's impairment due to the sedating effects of medication.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/26/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2210 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Spartanburg |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29376 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345401N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815808W |
| Event Location Airport | Spartanburg Downtown Memorial |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSPA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 215 |
| Airport Elevation | 801 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2201 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 35 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSPA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 801 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| 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) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1317 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 0049 0310270341 OVC002 1/4 017 01 |
| 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) | 17252 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 26 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2249 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2005 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Columbia FSDO - 13 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7799Y |
| NTSB Number | ATL04FA027 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30-631 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 28 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 170 |
| Airframe Hours | 6948 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Concept Displays LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6 Nesbitt Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Inman |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29349 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KEVV |
| Departure City | Evansville |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KSPA |
| Destination City | Spartanburg |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - final approach fix (FAF)/outer marker to threshold (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 5 |
| Runway Length | 5202 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |