Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ticonderoga Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ticonderoga, New York 12883
Saturday, July 10, 2004 8:58 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane, which was not operating on a flight plan, was proceeding in clear skies to an airport where the passenger was joining his wife. After crossing a lake near the destination, the airplane flew over rising terrain, along a saddleback, until it struck a stand of old-growth trees that jutted above new-growth trees. During the last 48 seconds of radar coverage, the airplane climbed 600 feet with no erratic course deviations. From the accident location, the airport would have been about 5 nautical miles off the airplane's right wing. The pilot had 32,000 hours of flight experience. The passenger was under investigation for fraud, and attempted to obtain life insurance prior to the flight. The passenger had also loaned money to the pilot, and was receiving "flight services" in lieu of cash payment when the pilot failed to pay back the loan. A .380 caliber pistol magazine was found at the accident site with two rounds of ammunition missing; however, no weapon was located at the site, and no weapon of that caliber was known to be associated with either the pilot or the passenger. Premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) were found on electrocardiograms performed in conjunction with the pilot's airman medical certificate applications in 2002 and 2004. The pilot's autopsy report indicated "severe calcific...coronary disease, with 90 percent narrowing of the left anterior descending coronary artery and 75 percent narrowing of the right coronary artery." Cause of death, for both the pilot and passenger, was listed as "undetermined." The autopsy reports also noted that, "due to the inability to perform a complete autopsy...of either of the two aircraft occupants, it cannot be determined whether either the pilot or the passenger were alive or dead at the time of the crash." Postaccident inspection of the airplane disclosed no evidence of any preimpact anomalies.
This narrative was modified on April 25, 2007.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Reason for occurrence undetermined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 858 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ticonderoga |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 12883 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 435037N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0733058W |
| Event Location Airport | Ticonderoga Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4B6 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 274 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 320 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| 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) | 30.06 |
| 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) | 21079 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 10 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2007 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albany |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N45032 |
| NTSB Number | IAD04FA030 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Unknown |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-8052199 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8159 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Haynes Group LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 30 Progress Lane #C |
| Aircraft Owner City | New Haven |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06483 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CAPITAL AIRLINES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 288 Christian Street |
| Operator City | Oxford |
| Operator State | CT |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 06478 |
| Operator Code | VRWA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OXC |
| Departure City | Oxford |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 4B6 |
| Destination City | Ticonderoga |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2007 9:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |