Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Reading Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reading, Pennsylvania 19605
Saturday, December 6, 2003 4:39 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane departed while it was snowing. The pilot reported that becoming airborne, the airplane, "...began to shake severely...." The pilot tried to climb; however, the airplane would not climb and it continued to settle. The pilot performed a forced landing in an field, about 3,200 feet from the departure end of the runway. The company director of operations (D/O) reported that when he examined the airplane about 45 minutes later, there was rough granular ice on the top surface of the wing that conformed to the outline of the fuel tanks. The rough granular ice was not found on the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that he elected not to use liquid deicing fluid on the wings because the snow was blowing off of the top of the wings when the airplane was pulled from the hangar. The D/O further reported that the airplane had been refueled with 177 gallons about 2 hours prior to departure and then the airplane was placed in an unheated hangar with the door open. The fuel came from a truck that had been kept in a heated hangar.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper decision to not apply de-icing fluid to the wings prior to takeoff, which resulted in snow/ice contamination on the of the wings, a stall mush, and a forced landing in an open field.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/6/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 439 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Reading |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19605 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 402228N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0755649W |
| Event Location Airport | Reading Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RDG |
| 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 | 118 |
| Airport Elevation | 344 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 426 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 344 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1737 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15782 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 6 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 625 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Allentown |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N700QD |
| NTSB Number | NYC04LA044 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SOCATA |
| Aircraft Model | TBM 700 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 174 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6614 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 21 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 68.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2568 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Quest Diagnostics Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 159 Museum Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Reading |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19605 |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RDG |
| Departure City | Reading |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 439 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OWD |
| Destination City | Norwood |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2004 10:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 6350 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |