Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Corry, Pennsylvania 16407
Thursday, February 26, 2004 20:20 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 20 minutes into the night cross-country flight, the pilot reported a rough-running engine to air traffic control. The pilot requested to return to the departure airport and was instructed by ATC to "reverse course, report airport in sight." No further pertinent transmissions were received from the pilot. A witness near the accident site reported observing the airplane approach the field at a very high speed. The airplane was heading north at a height of about 800 feet, then turned to the left, and descended from view. A second witness observed the airplane flying in a northerly direction. The airplane made a left turn and descended from view. The witness added that the airplanes engine was "spitting and sputtering like it was stalling or running out of gas." The wreckage was located in a snow covered farm field, next to a row of six large hardwood trees, about 25 miles southeast of the departure airport. Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane impacted the ground in front of the trees, in a nose-low, left-wing-low attitude. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the propeller blades were twisted, bent aft, and displayed leading edge nicks and chordwise scratches. Examination of the cockpit area revealed that the tachometer gauge displayed a reading of 3,000 rpm. The throttle and mixture control levers in the cockpit were both in the full forward position, and the carburetor heat lever was observed in the "ON" position. A review of a FAA carburetor icing probability chart placed the reported temperature and dew point in the "icing at glide and cruise power" area of the chart. Examination of the engine did not reveal any abnormalities. The reported weather at the departure airport included 10 statute miles of visibility and clear skies. The temperature was 28 degrees Fahrenheit, and a dew point of 25 degrees Fahrenheit. The pilot accumulated about 233 hours of total flight experience, 2.6 hours of which were in make and model.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of partial engine power for undetermined reasons, and the pilot's lost of control after performing an evasive maneuver to avoid trees during a forced landing at night. Factors related to the accident were a rough running engine and the pilot's inability to see the trees due to the nighttime conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/26/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2020 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Corry |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16407 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415921N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0794236W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 1951 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ERI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 733 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.37 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17617 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Eastern Region Ops Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 26 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2311 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Allegheny, PA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4166P |
| NTSB Number | NYC04FA077 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2843340 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 328 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gary Saunders |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Waterford |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06385 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Capitol Airlines Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Oxford |
| Operator State | CT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 06478 |
| 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 | ERI |
| Departure City | Erie |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2010 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OXC |
| Destination City | Oxford |
| Destination State | CT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| 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 | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |