Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sullivan County Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wht Sulfur Sprg, New York 12787
Friday, August 12, 2005 14:13 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot departed his home airport on a personal flight with an unknown quantity of fuel. He landed and shut down the engine at another airport, did not purchase any fuel, then departed for the return flight. Hours later, witnesses observed the airplane circling about 8 miles from his home airport. The airplane then maneuvered for landing in a park. When asked about the sound of the airplane's engine, one witness stated, "The engine was running fine, it was running steady." He estimated that the power setting was about "mid-range." A second witness was one-quarter mile to the west of the crash site when he noticed the airplane circle overhead. The airplane then descended, and passed over his head "at treetop level" as it flew toward the park in a wings-level attitude. When asked about the sound of the engine, the witness stated, "He was coming in slowly, and the engine was running smoothly, but we knew he was coming in for an emergency landing." On short final approach, the airplane struck a wire, descended sharply, struck the ground, and nosed over. Examination of the wreckage revealed no mechanical anomalies. Fuel drained from the tanks totaled 4.7 gallons, 3.5 gallons of which were not usable. Examination of the pilot's records revealed that he had been a student pilot for 11 years, with several multi-year breaks in his training, and that he had accumulated 190 total hours of flight experience.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate visual lookout during a precautionary landing, which resulted in collision with a wire and terrain. Factors in the accident were the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning which resulted in his becoming lost/disoriented, and a low fuel state.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/12/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1413 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wht Sulfur Sprg |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 12787 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414768N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0744963W |
| Event Location Airport | SULLIVAN COUNTY INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MSV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1403 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1415 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MSV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1403 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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) | 20636 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 12 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2006 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albany, NY |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N45679 |
| NTSB Number | IAD05FA121 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15077018 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 72 |
| Airframe Hours | 6759 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John F. Raftery |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rock Hill |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12775 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | N30 |
| Departure City | HONESDALE |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MSV |
| Destination City | MONTICELLO |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 31 2006 3:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ANDJ |
| 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 | -- |