Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Bethel Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newry, Maine 04261
Thursday, June 22, 2006 14:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After boarding three Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps cadets for an orientation flight, the flight instructor of the Cessna 172 executed a takeoff. Once airborne, the airplane made an "immediate" right turn directly towards a mountain. The airplane continued towards the mountain, paralleled the mountain's face, then passed over the mountain and out of sight. The wreckage was located in a heavily wooded area 2,070 feet above sea level. The debris path and impact marks were consistent with a near vertical impact. Also, no preimpact mechanical malfunctions were discovered when the wreckage was examined. The flight instructor had a history of flying low and performing maneuvers bordering on excessive with cadets onboard. The day of the accident and on the flight prior to the accident flight, cadets experienced zero-g maneuvers, along with near vertical climbs and descents with the pilot recovering between 75 to 100 feet above the ground.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's failure to maintain altitude/clearance while maneuvering, which resulted in an impact with trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/22/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1410 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Newry |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04261 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 442715N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0705305W |
| Event Location Airport | Bethel Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0B1 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4.42 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 654 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1352 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BML |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1161 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| 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 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21815 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 22 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 | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland, ME |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N572BA |
| NTSB Number | NYC06FA154 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17271675 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6751 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Twin Cities Air Service, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Auburn |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 04210 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 0B1 |
| Departure City | Bethel |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 0B1 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2007 4:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| 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 | -- |