Lancaster Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17543
Thursday, December 13, 2007 7:45 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The purpose of the accident flight was to reposition the airplane for maintenance, and was only about 10 minutes in duration. The pilot reported that an airman's meteorological advisory existed warning of light to moderate icing in precipitation and freezing drizzle along his route of flight. During the instrument flight rules flight, the pilot maintained visual contact with the ground, and reported the presence of light freezing drizzle and rain. The airplane's deicing equipment cleared the airframe of ice; however, the view through the windscreen became obscured, as the anti-ice plate on the windscreen had previously been removed for replacement, and a new unit had not yet been installed. The pilot utilized the autopilot to fly a coupled instrument landing system approach, and decoupled the autopilot about 300 feet above the ground. Using the side windows and the radar altimeter, the pilot estimated that the airplane had enough altitude to reach the runway, but due to the up-sloping terrain prior to the runway threshold, the airplane was actually lower than the pilot thought. The airplane subsequently contacted terrain about 150 feet short of the runway threshold. As the airplane came to a stop the nose landing gear collapsed, and the right main landing gear separated, damaging the wing spar. The weather reported at the destination airport, about 10 minutes before the accident, included freezing rain and a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain a proper glidepath during the landing approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper decision to fly with known deficiencies in equipment, and the icing conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/13/2007
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 745
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Lancaster
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 17543
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 400718N
Event Location Longitude 0761745W
Event Location Airport Lancaster Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LNS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 403
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 737 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID LNS
Elevation of weather observation facility 403
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 4300
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4300
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Overcast
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 0
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
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) 30.25
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23009
NTSB Notification Source Harrisburg FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jan 3 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2008 3:59PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Harrisburg FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N777EV
NTSB Number NYC08CA072
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model BE-55
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number TE-871
Certified Max Gross Weight 5386
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3234
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Sunrise Air, LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Gettysburg
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 CXY
Departure City Harrisburg
Departure State PA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code LNS
Destination City Lancaster
Destination State PA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach - final approach fix (FAF)/outer marker to threshold (IFR)
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 23 2008 3:28PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8
Runway Length 4102
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --