Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Summerville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Summerville, South Carolina 29448
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 6:24 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During an early morning departure, prior to sunrise, the aircraft impacted trees and terrain immediately after takeoff. Witnesses reported the sound of the engines were loud, although they did not observe the airplane take off. A postaccident examination of the airplane and engines revealed no mechanical discrepancies that would have precluded normal operation. The damage to both propeller assemblies was consistent with impact and fire damage. Although the forward baggage door had a gouge mark, it was not consistent with a baggage door coming in contact with a propeller blade in flight. The circumstances of the accident are potentially consistent with an incapacitating event involving this pilot, particularly, given evidence of coronary artery disease during the postmortem examination, or with spatial disorientation given the circumstances of the flight. The pilot was taking off during dark lighting conditions, over a dark unpopulated area. The absence of external visual cues and the accelerations associated with the takeoff and initial climb could have led to erroneous sensations of the airplane’s attitude which, if not effectively managed by the pilot, could explain the circumstances of the accident. There is insufficient evidence, however, to allow a conclusive determination as to which scenario, if either, actually occurred.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Flight into terrain for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/21/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 624 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Summerville |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29448 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 330335N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801652W |
| Event Location Airport | Summerville Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DYB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 56 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 615 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DYB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 56 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| 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) | 30.26 |
| 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) | 28798 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern C-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 11 2011 2:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | andj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N62635 |
| NTSB Number | ERA10FA024 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-7654103 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| 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 | May 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 85 |
| Airframe Hours | 5100 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Peter Radding |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | NORTH CHARLESTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29420-7506 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Peter Radding |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | NORTH CHARLESTON |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29420-7506 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | 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 |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DYB |
| Departure City | Summerville |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 624 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FPR |
| Destination City | Ft. Pierce |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 19 2011 3:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 3700 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |