Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Dorado, Puerto Rico 00646
Monday, March 27, 2006 13:30 AST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While flying at 5,000 feet in a broken layer with some light rain and turbulence with the autopilot on, the pilot later reported, encountering severe turbulence, which lasted for 1 second. Several passengers hit their heads on the ceiling as a result. She reported avoiding all clouds after that, requested medical assistance, and landed uneventfully. One passenger who was injured reported that the pilot advised them that the flight would be "bumpy" and they needed to keep their seatbelts fastened, which she complied with. At the time of the event she could hear "...something like small pebbles dropping onto the plane. There was mist on the windshield that streamed from the bottom/middle of the windshield to the top." She further stated that after assessing herself, "maybe a minute or two, the pilot turned on a screen that had been blank up to that point." She also reported seeing "...green blobs that came on and off. It reminded me of the radar screen that I have seen on TV." Weather radar images indicate the airplane was near VIP Level 1 to Level 4 radar returns at the time of the occurrence.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the pilot to use on-board weather radar equipment for weather avoidance and the pilot's continued operation into known adverse weather conditions, resulting in injury to passengers.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/27/2006
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Atlantic Standard Time
Event City Dorado
Event State PUERTO RICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 00646
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 182805N
Event Location Longitude 0662444W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1756 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID TJSJ
Elevation of weather observation facility 9
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 23
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3000
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report TJSJ 271756Z 06014KT 10SM BKN030TCU BKN060 28/23 A
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None 5
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21874
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Mar 27 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2007 12:22PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office San Juan, Puerto Rico

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N223PB
NTSB Number MIA06LA071
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 402C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 402C0105
Certified Max Gross Weight 7210
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 10
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Mar 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 26840
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Hyannis Air Service, Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address 660 Barnstable Road
Aircraft Owner City Hyannis
Aircraft Owner State MA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 02601
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 HYIA
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 Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code TJMZ
Departure City Mayaguez
Departure State PR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1317
Departure Time Zone AST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code TJSJ
Destination City San Juan
Destination State PR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise - normal
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 5 2007 11:23AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --