Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
North Central Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860
Friday, June 6, 2008 17:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A Piper PA-30 was on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan in instrument meteorological conditions and was cleared for an instrument approach. As the Piper approached the missed approach point, the pilot visually acquired the airport, and notified the air traffic controller to cancel his IFR flight plan. According to the Piper pilot, after the controller acknowledged the cancellation request, the pilot retuned his radio to the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) and announced his intention for landing. Due to the wind direction, the Piper pilot elected to circle and land on Runway 15, which was in the opposite direction of his approach. The pilot of a Beech A36, who was ready to depart from Runway 5 of the same airport, and who was also on an IFR flight plan, requested permission to take off but was told to "hold for release" by the controller. However, the controller did not explicitly inform the Beech pilot of the reason for the delay. Less than a minute later, the controller released the Beech. The two airplanes collided near the intersection of the two runways. Both pilots reported that they were not aware of the other airplane until immediately prior to the collision. Several witnesses heard the Beech pilot announce his intentions multiple times, but did not hear the Piper pilot's transmissions. The investigation also revealed that the two controllers were both aware of the proximity of the two airplanes, but neither one communicated that information to either of the pilots. A review of the recorded communications also revealed that the approach controller had a brief personal conversation with another controller just prior to the accident. The lack of received position or intent transmissions from the Piper, and the controllers' failure to inform the pilots of the proximity of the two airplanes, deprived the pilots of information that was critical to the pilots' situational awareness, and which could have enabled one or both pilots to prevent this accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Both pilots' failure to see and avoid the other airplane. Contributing to the accident was the air traffic controllers failure to notify either pilot of the potential conflict.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/6/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pawtucket |
| Event State | RHODE ISLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02860 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 415517N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0712945W |
| Event Location Airport | North Central Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SFZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 441 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1735 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SFZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 441 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 600 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26346 |
| NTSB Notification Source | New England Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 6 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 13 2009 3:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Boston FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N27199 | N7660Y |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA207A | NYC08LA207B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | A36 | PA-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-2321 | 30-738 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3650 | 3725 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2007 12:00AM | Apr 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 2662 | 5278 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kodar LLC | Stuart Gitlow |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Basking Ridge | Woonsocket |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ | RI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07920 | 02895 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Name | Richard J. Darche | Stuart Gitlow |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | Basking Ridge | Woonsocket |
| Operator State | NJ | RI |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 07920 | 02895 |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SFZ | ACK |
| Departure City | Pawtucket | Nantucket |
| Departure State | NJ | MA |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1744 | 1710 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MMU | SFZ |
| Destination City | Morristown | Pawtucket |
| Destination State | NJ | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - roll/run | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 13 2009 3:07PM | Nov 13 2009 3:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 05 | 15 |
| Runway Length | 5000 | 3210 |
| Runway Width | 100 | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |