Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Burlington, North Carolina 27271
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 5:57 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On January 16, 2013 about 0557 eastern standard time, a Pilatus PC-12/45, N68PK, operating as Skylab 53, was substantially damaged when it impacted the ground in Burlington, North Carolina. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and a instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight. The flight departed from Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport (BUY), Burlington, North Carolina at 0553, and was destined for Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU), Morristown, New Jersey. The business flight transporting medical specimens was operated by LabCorp, Inc. under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Review of preliminary air traffic control radar and communication data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Greensboro Approach Control, revealed that the airplane departed from runway 06 at BUY and made initial contact while climbing to the assigned altitude of 3,000 feet mean sea level. The pilot was told to reset his transponder and no further communications were received from the accident flight.
According to FAA records, the pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with multiple ratings, including airplane single-engine land, as well as a flight instructor certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on November 19, 2012, at which time he reported 6,279 total hours of flight experience.
The accident site was located in a park approximately 5 miles northeast of BUY. The initial impact location was identified by a ground impression with various parts of the right wing and also a crater that measured about 3 feet deep. The wreckage debris field was 793 foot-long and 298 foot-wide, oriented on a 140 degree heading. Various sizes of wing spar segments, the propeller hub, two propeller blades, and the front reduction gear box were located in the crater. The engine was located about 100 feet from the impact point. Fragments of the airplane, including a section of the cabin area, empennage, left and right wings, and cockpit were located along the wreckage path. The two other propeller blades were located about 200 and 400 feet from the impact point, and exhibited some S-bending damage. All major flight control surfaces and associated counter weights were located in the debris field.
The 0554 recorded weather observation at BUY, included wind from 040 degrees at 4 knots, visibility 10 miles, broken clouds at 700 feet above ground level (agl), overcast at 1,700 agl, temperature 4 degrees C, dew point 3 degrees C; barometric altimeter 30.02 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/16/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 557 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Burlington |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27271 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 360647N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0792513W |
| Event Location Airport | Burlington-Alamance Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BUY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 616 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 554 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 215 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BUY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 616 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 40 |
| 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) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| 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 | Jan 25 2013 9:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N68PK |
| NTSB Number | ERA13FA115 |
| 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 | PILATUS |
| Aircraft Model | PC-12/45 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 265 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9921 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 14 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4637 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C126 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | REGIONS EQUIPMENT FINANCE CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1900 5TH AVE N FL 24 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BIRMINGHAM |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35203-2610 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA HOLDINGS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 358 S. MAIN ST |
| Operator City | BURLINGTON |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 27215 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BUY |
| Departure City | Burlington |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 553 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MMU |
| Destination City | MORRISTOWN |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 25 2013 9:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 06 |
| Runway Length | 4999 |
| Runway Width | 99 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |