Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
University Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823
Saturday, March 26, 2005 13:48 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident airplane was on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to land, when witnesses reported seeing it spinning in a nose down, near vertical attitude before it collided with the ground. The accident site was about 3 miles from the approach end of the intended runway. A review of radar data disclosed that the private pilot had difficulty maintaining altitude and airspeed while on final approach, with significant excursions above and below the glidepath, as well as large variations in airspeed. Interviews with other pilots in the area just prior to and after the accident revealed that icing conditions existed in clouds near the airport, although first responders to the accident site indicated that there was no ice on the airplane. Postaccident inspection of the airplane, its engine and flight navigation systems, discovered no evidence of preimpact anomalies. An analysis of the airplane's navigation system's light bulbs, suggests that the pilot had selected the GPS mode for the initial approach, but had not switched to the proper instrument approach mode to allow the autopilot to lock onto the ILS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed to avoid a stall during an instrument final approach to land, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. Factors associated with the accident are the inadvertent stall/spin, the pilot's failure to follow procedures/directives, and clouds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/26/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1348 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Bellefonte |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16823 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 405244N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0774638W |
| Event Location Airport | University Park Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | UNV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1239 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1400 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UNV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1239 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1700 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21082 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 26 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| 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 | Harrisburg |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N770G |
| NTSB Number | IAD05FA047 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Pilatus |
| Aircraft Model | PC-12/45 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 299 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9921 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1523 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J2W Aviation, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Providence |
| Aircraft Owner State | RI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 02906 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jeffrey M. Jacober |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Providence |
| Operator State | RI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 02906 |
| 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 | APF |
| Departure City | Naples |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 953 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | UNV |
| Destination City | State College |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - final approach fix (FAF)/outer marker to threshold (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 7 2007 4:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ANDJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 6701 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |