Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hollands International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newfane, New York 14108
Sunday, August 1, 2010 14:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was departing for a skydiving flight. During rotation, the jump door opened, which was located on the right side of the airplane. The pilot said that he was not concerned with the door, which would not have critically impacted the airplane's performance; however, an experienced parachutist attempted to secure the door to the point where he was partially outside of the airplane. The pilot attempted to stop the parachutist and became distracted, which resulted in the airplane veering left toward trees while flying at a low airspeed. The airplane subsequently struck a stand of trees and impacted the ground. The airplane came to rest inverted in a wooded area, with the roof of the cabin and empennage separated. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions and the pilot reported that the airplane performed as expected, without any mechanical issues. One of the occupants noted that the jump door was checked prior to takeoff and appeared to be secured. The jump door separated during the accident and was found in the latched position. The jump door and surrounding structure were distorted due to impact damage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control due to his diverted attention, which resulted in a collision with trees during the initial climb after takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the passenger's attempt to secure the jump door after it opened during takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/1/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1420 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Newfane |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14108 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 431510N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0784606W |
| Event Location Airport | Hollands International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 85N |
| 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 | 360 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IAG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 589 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4800 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| 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) | 29.97 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 5 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28262 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2011 11:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4976E |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA389 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | A185F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18503924 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3350 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 54 |
| Airframe Hours | 2903 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DAYSTAR TRADING & VENTURES LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | GETZVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 14068-1282 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Frontier Skydivers |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3316 Beebe Road |
| Operator City | Newfane |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 14108 |
| 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) | Skydiving |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 85N |
| Departure City | Newfane |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 85N |
| Destination City | Newfane |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2011 11:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 2875 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |