Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Piper PA-30-160 Twin Comanche, N7700Y: Fatal accident occurred January 01, 2013 in Jasper, Alabama

NTSB Identification: ERA13FA101 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, January 01, 2013 in Jasper, AL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 04/07/2015
Aircraft: PIPER PA-30, registration: N7700Y
Injuries: 3 Fatal.

NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

According to the airport manager, who was also a flight instructor, the student pilot had completed 10 hours of dual instruction in a single-engine airplane and completed three supervised solos. After the student pilot's third supervised solo, he discontinued his training with the airport manager and enrolled in a flight program at a community college. The airport manager did not know if the student pilot continued with his training. A review of the student pilot's records revealed that he had no entries or endorsements related to multiengine, night, or instrument flights. 

Instrument meteorological conditions existed on the night of the accident. An airport security video showed the accident airplane taxiing to the active runway. Shortly thereafter, the airplane’s strobe lights can be seen reflecting off of the runway and then illuminating in the low clouds; the strobe lights then disappear from the camera’s view. A witness in the area reported hearing an airplane flying low and then the sound of a loud crash. The witness subsequently contacted the local authorities, and the airplane was located 1 mile from the airport in a heavily wooded area. The airplane’s owner reported that he had not given the student pilot permission to use the airplane. An examination of the airplane did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The student pilot’s poor judgment to take a multiengine airplane for which he did not have experience or permission to operate and depart into night instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a loss of airplane control and impact with terrain.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On January 1, 2013, about 2240 central standard time, a twin-engine Piper PA-30, N7700Y, collided with terrain during an uncontrolled descent in Jasper, Alabama. The student pilot and two passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was unregistered and was owned by a private individual. The unauthorized flight was conducted in night, instrument meteorological conditions and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed from Walker County Airport-Bevill Field, Jasper, Alabama, at 2235.

Witnesses stated that, on the night of the accident, it was dark and raining. They heard an airplane flying very low and, shortly thereafter, they heard a loud crash. The witnesses called the local authorities and reported that the airplane had crashed. 

According to the airport manager/instructor, the student pilot worked as a cleanup person at the airport in trade for flight lessons. The airport manager said that the student pilot completed 10 hours of dual instruction and a solo flight on April 27, 2012. He also said that the student pilot received his flight lessons in a Cessna C-172 airplane. The student pilot completed two other supervised solos before enrolling at the Wallace State Community College aviation program. He continued coming to the airport and doing odd jobs for various airplane owners in exchange for rides. The airport manager and had no knowledge of the student ever taking any other lessons. 

The owner of the airplane stated that he knew the student pilot from seeing him around the airport. He went on to say that he never gave permission to the student pilot to fly his airplane. He said that the student pilot did not have a key for his airplane, and it was not kept locked. On the night of the accident, the owner was informed that his airplane was missing from the airport. When he arrived at the airport, he verified that his airplane was missing and reported that it was last seen on December 23, 2012.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the student pilot made no contact with air traffic control facilities prior to the accident, and there were no known radio transmissions.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot, age 17, held a student pilot certificate and reported a total of 6 hours of flight time in the last 6 months as of the exam dated February 28, 2012. The student pilot was issued a class 3 medical certificate with limitations for corrective lenses. Review of FAA records did not reveal any other certifications other than the student pilot certificate. A review of copies of the student pilot's logbook revealed that he had accumulated total of 15.5 flight hours as of September 16, 2012. The logbook showed that, on April 27, 2012, he was signed off on his first solo flight. On August 26, 2012, he was signed off for the private pilot knowledge test, but there are no records of him taking the test. The student pilot's logbook did not show any entries or endorsements related to multi-engine, night, or instrument flights.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The four-seat, low-wing airplane, serial number 30-785, was manufactured in 1965. It was powered by two Lycoming model IO-320-B1A 160-hp engines equipped with Hartzell HC-E2YL-2BS hubs and F7663-4 blades. Review of copies of maintenance logbook records showed an annual inspection was completed August 13, 2012, at a recorded airframe total time of 1369.5 hours and a total time of 5160.6 hours. 

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

The recorded weather at the Walker County-Bevill Field, Jasper, Alabama (JFX) at an elevation of 483 feet, revealed at 2255, conditions were wind 350 degrees at 8 knots, cloud conditions broken at 400 feet above ground level, temperature 45 degrees Celsius (C); dew point 43 degrees C; altimeter 30.11 inches of mercury. A witness reported that there was fog and mist in the area at the time of the accident.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION 

The airplane was found in heavily wooded area about 1 mile southwest from JFX. The fuselage of the airplane came to rest on a course of 050 degrees magnetic. The cockpit and cabin were crushed and fragmented. The nose gear assembly was broken away from the fuselage and located along the debris path. The instrument panel and instruments were impact damaged. The empennage remained attached to the fuselage and was buckled. The vertical and horizontal stabilizers were still attached and buckled. The rudder and elevators remained attached to the flight surfaces at the attachment points, and the respective flight control cables were connected. The left and right aileron cables were broken in overstress, and the ends of the cables remained attached to their respective bellcranks. Flight control continuity was established from the flight controls to the flight control surfaces. The left and right fuel selectors were found in the on position.

The right wing was attached to the fuselage at the wing root, and the outboard section was fragmented throughout the debris path. The right engine was broken away from the wing nacelle and was impact damaged. The right main fuel tanks were breached, and the fuel caps were secured to the wing. The main landing gear assembly was broken away from the wing and was located on the debris path in the extended position.

The left wing was attached to the fuselage at the wing root, and the outboard section extending past the engine nacelle was fragmented throughout the debris path. The engine remained attached to the wing nacelle and was impact damaged. The left main fuel tanks were breached, and the fuel caps were secure. The left main landing gear was found in the extended position.

Examination of both engines revealed that the propellers remained attached to the hubs. Both propeller blade assemblies displayed "S" bending and scoring throughout the blade spans. There was evidence of propeller blade cuts on tree branches throughout the accident site. The branches measured approximately 4-inches in diameter and were found within the debris path severed cleanly in diagonal linear patterns. There were no discrepancies noted that would have precluded normal operation of both propeller blade assemblies. Both engines remained attached to their respective wings, and each showed crush damage. Examination of both engines did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. 

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

An autopsy was performed on the student pilot on January 3, 2013, by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, Huntsville, Alabama. The autopsy findings included blunt force injuries, and the report listed the specific injuries. The cause of death was reported as three of the listed injuries.

Forensic toxicology was performed on specimens from the pilot by the FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The toxicology report stated no ethanol was detected in the liver or the muscle, and no drugs were detected in the liver.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

A review of video footage retrieved from the airport security camera showed that, on the night of the accident, an airplane is seen taxiing on the ramp at a high rate of speed to the active runway. As the airplane departs the strobes lights are seen reflecting off of the runway and continue up into a low cloud ceiling. The strobes are then seen pulsating in the clouds before being lost from the camera's view.

Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 61.89(a) states, in part, that a student pilot may not act as pilot in command of an aircraft that is carrying a passenger, or when the flight cannot be made with visual reference to the surface, or in any manner contrary to any limitations placed in the pilot's logbook by an authorized instructor.


http://registry.faa.govN7700Y

NTSB Identification: ERA13FA101 
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, January 01, 2013 in Jasper, AL
Aircraft: PIPER PA-30, registration: N7700Y
Injuries: 3 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On January 1, 2013, about 2240 central standard time, a twin engine Piper PA-30, N7700Y, collided with terrain during an uncontrolled descent in Jasper, Alabama. The student pilot and two passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was unregistered, and is owned by a private individual. The unauthorized flight was conducted in night, instrument meteorological conditions and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed from Walker County Airport-Bevill Field, Jasper, Alabama, at 2235.

Witnesses stated that on the night of the accident, it was dark and raining. They heard the airplane flying very low and, shortly thereafter they heard a loud crash. The witnesses called 911 and reported that the airplane had crashed.

According to the airport manager/instructor, the pilot worked as a cleanup person at the airport in trade for flight lessons. The airport manager said that student pilot completed his first solo flight on April 27, 2012. He also said that the student pilot received his flight lessons in a single engine Cessna C-172 airplane. After the student pilot’s solo, he no longer received lessons from the airport manager.

The owner of the airplane stated that he knew the student pilot from his work at the airport. He went on to say that he never gave permission to the student pilot to fly his airplane. The owner was asked if he ever took the student pilot flying in his airplane and he responded “no.” He said that the student pilot did not have a key for his airplane and it was not typically locked. On the night of the accident, the owner was informed that his airplane was missing from the airport. When he arrived at the airport, he verified that his airplane was missing and reported that it was last seen on December 23, 2012.

According to preliminary information obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration, no air traffic control assistance and no radio transmissions were made by the pilot prior to the accident.


Jordan Smith. 


Tommy Smith, Jordan's father, was serving in Afghanistan with the National Guard when Jordan passed away. 


JASPER, AL (WBRC) - Monday evening, family and friends attended the visitation for 17-year-old Jordan Smith, one of three teens who perished in a plane crash last week near the Walker County airport. 

 Tommy Smith, Jordan's father, has only been in town for a few days. He's in the National Guard and was away in Afghanistan when he got the horrible news about his son.

It's still a lot he doesn't know about the accident. He says his only concern right now is dealing with having to bury his son.

"I'm holding strong for my wife and other two boys," Smith said.

Tommy Smith and his family are getting a lot of support during a very difficult time. Hundreds of people were there for Jordan's visitation.

"That has helped me and my wife get through this. Just people we don't even know come up to us told us how much they love Jordan."

"I wish people could see him for love he had, had such a big heart," family friend Savannah Gilbert said. "He was always such a happy kid, do anything for anybody wish people knew him for the happy person he was."

Authorities say Jordan was flying the plane that crashed last week in Walker County. He, along with 17-year-old Jordan Montgomery and 19-year-old Brandon Ary, were all killed.

Jordan was a student pilot and his family says flying was his passion.

"I flew with him on Father's Day and that was my Father's Day gift. He was good at what he did," Smith said.

According to FAA records the plane Jordan and his friends flew that night was not registered to fly. Jordan's father couldn't tell us anything about why his son got into that plane.

"I've not even had a chance to get into that…my wife hasn't been able to make funeral arrangements until I got here. That's what my main focus has been," Smith said.

Smith says he doesn't know how life will be without his son. He hopes to deal with the heartbreak by relying on the fond memories.

"I'm gonna remember Jordan the way he lived .This is just a step to bury the body but my son I will remember him how he lived."

Smith says his son was not a typical teen. He was very outgoing and responsible. He worked at Cafe Bills, a restaurant in Jasper.

Jordan was a junior at Meeks High School and a lot of his classmates were at the visitation tonight. His funeral was held after the visitation.


 Obituaries:   

Brandon "Bo" Tyler Ary of Arley

Brandon "Bo" Tyler Ary of Arley, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, at the age of 19. He was born on April 30, 1993.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, at 6 p.m. at Collins-Burke Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013 at 2:30 p.m. in the Collins-Burke Chapel, with burial at Meek Baptist Church. Collins-Burke Funeral Home will direct.

Mr. Ary was preceded in death by his grandparents, Verdell and Wenola Ary, and William Jesse Savage.

He is survived by his mother, Brenda Dianne Ary; father, Jimmy Randall Ary; sisters, Brandy Corinna Trammell (Ryan) and Brooke Chase Ary; and grandmother, Clara Mae Savage. 


Jordan Seth Montgomery

Jordan Seth Montgomery, of Arley, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 at the age of 17. He was born on Feb. 27, 1995.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, at 6 p.m. at Collins-Burke Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, at 1 p.m. in the Collins-Burke Chapel, with burial at Kennedy Cemetery. Josh Hutto will officiate, Collins-Burke Funeral Home will direct.

Pallbearers will be Allen Lawson, Cameron Raeta, Cody Surette, Duston Heath, Joshua Montgomery and Ryu Martin.

Mr. Montgomery was preceded in death by his grandfather, Fred C. Montgomery; grandmother, Hattie Kennedy; grandfather, Frank Kennedy; and brother, Jacob Kyle Montgomery.

He is survived by his mother, Frances Marie Montgomery; father, Fred Dewayne Montgomery; brother, Joshua Dewayne Montgomery; grandmother, Evangeline Tesoro; and nieces, Haley and Kaley Montgomery.

Jordan Ryan Smith
Jordan Ryan Smith, 17, of Jasper, passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. Arrangements will be announced later by Collins-Burke Funeral Home. 
 ==================


 MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An attorney for the owner of a plane in Jasper says he never gave approval for a flight that crashed and killed three teenagers. 

 Attorney Herbie Brewer says the owner, Jasper businessman Ray Whitworth, had never given 17-year-old student pilot Jordan Smith permission to use the plane and had never taken Smith for a ride in the plane.

Smith and two of his friends crashed shortly after taking off in the twin-engine plane late Tuesday night from the Walker County Airport.

FAA records show Whitworth's company, HiFlight Aviation, bought the Piper PA 30 in May 2010. The company applied to the FAA for registration, but the application was returned to HiFlight in June 2010 for correction. The FAA said it received no response and canceled the registration that summer.


Plane crash wreckage removed from Walker County field Federal authorities have removed the wreckage of the plane involved in a Tuesday night crash that killed three teens as they continue their investigation. Jordan Smith, 17, Jordan Montgomery, 17, and Brandon Ary, 19, died when the Piper PA-30 plane they were riding in crashed Tuesday night into a heavily wooded area off Alabama 5 and Wells Loop Road, less than a mile from Walker County Airport-Bevill Field near Jasper. Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board and Walker County Sheriff's Office -- along with a crew with Georgia-based Atlanta Air Recovery -- began removal operations about 2 p.m. Thursday. The plane was loaded onto a trailer about 4 p.m. Thursday for transport to a hangar at the airport, NTSB Air Safety Investigator Eric Alleyne said. There, investigators will reconstruct the plane as best they can and do more analysis, Alleyne said. (Joe Songer/AL.com). 








(Joe Songer, AL.com)










Sheriff's Deputies block off Wells Loop Rd. 






  

Federal authorities have removed the wreckage of the plane involved in a Tuesday night crash that killed three teens as they continue their investigation.

Jordan Smith, 17, Jordan Montgomery, 17, and Brandon Ary, 19, died when the Piper PA-30 plane they were riding in crashed Tuesday night into a heavily wooded area off Alabama 5 and Wells Loop Road, less than a mile from Walker County Airport-Bevill Field near Jasper.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board and Walker County Sheriff's Office -- along with a crew with Georgia-based Atlanta Air Recovery -- began removal operations about 2 p.m. Thursday.

The plane was loaded onto a trailer about 4 p.m. Thursday for transport to a hangar at the airport, NTSB Air Safety Investigator Eric Alleyne said.

There, investigators will reconstruct the plane as best they can and do more analysis, Alleyne said.
 NTSB authorities and local law enforcement were at the crash site all day Thursday gathering more evidence and preparing to move the plane, Alleyne said.

The crash site is in thick, shin-deep mud and heavy brush surrounded by woods.

Brush had to be cut away to access the plane. Some of that cutting work was done on Wednesday, with the rest done at salvage time Thursday, authorities said.

The NTSB is the lead agency in the investigation. Once initial documentation is complete, the agency will release a preliminary report within the next several days, NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said.

Next, a factual narrative with more detail is released some time later, followed by a final probable cause report.

Investigations typically take about one year to 18 months to complete.

The NTSB's 57 investigators annually study about 1,800 aviation incidents, Weiss said.

(AP) JASPER, Ala. - Federal authorities said a student pilot wasn’t following regulations when he took off with two friends on a late-night flight New Year’s Day that crashed in north Alabama and killed everyone on board.

Federal Aviation Administration records show that the pilot, 17-year-old Jordan Ryan Smith of Jasper, received a student pilot certificate in February 2012. On Thursday, the FAA pointed to regulations that say "a student pilot may not act as pilot in command of an aircraft that is carrying a passenger."

FAA regulations also require a pilot to have a multi-engine rating to fly a twin-engine plane like the Piper PA 30 that crashed shortly after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday in a swampy, wooded area about a mile south of the Walker County Airport.

Smith’s mother, Sherrie Smith, said Wednesday he was one test away from having his pilot’s license. She said she talked to him by cell phone about 10 p.m. Tuesday and he said he would be in by his 11:30 p.m. curfew. She said she knew he was out with friends, but did not know they had gone to the airport.

Also killed in the crash were 17-year-old Jordan Seth Montgomery and 19-year-old Brandon Tyler Ary, both of Arley.

None of the victims owned the plane. Authorities have not released the name of the owner.

Airport manager Edwin Banks said the plane departed from the small airport about 10:30 p.m. in overcast skies and a low cloud ceiling. "It was a student pilot flying an airplane without permission, an airplane that he was not qualified to fly at night," Banks said Wednesday.

Sherrie Smith said Wednesday her son knew the owner and had a key to the plane, as well as the access code to the electronic gate providing access to the plane parking area.

Chief Deputy Sheriff James Painter said Thursday that officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were gathering pieces of the wreckage for their investigation and there was no determination yet on the cause of the crash.


http://www.kob.com


WALKER COUNTY, AL (WBRC) -

On the very day his senior portraits arrived in the mail, the family of Jordan Montgomery is faced with a tough reality. 

 "His mother couldn't get a hold of him today and they called me and told me that he had...there had been a plane crash and his truck was over at Brandon's house, and Brandon's pickup was at the airport where the plane was missing," Jordan's father, Fred, said.

Jordan had spent the night at a friend's and reports say it was during the sleepover that 17-year-old Jordan Montgomery, 17-year-old Jordan Smith and 19-year-old Brandon Ary took off in a Piper PA 30 plane from the Walker County Airport.

The plane crashed a mile from the airport, killing all three.

"My wife is taking it very hard, and which that's expected, and my day will come somewhere down the road and I'll pick a day, but right now I need to stand strong," Fred said.

John Wells is the man who made the 9-1-1 call.

"They revved up and then they went quiet and about that time I heard the crash of the engine bottoms," Wells said.

As a firefighter, Wells has worked these types of crashes and tells FOX6 News he feels for the families involved.

Fred says his son was a young man with many aspirations for his life, which has now been cut short.

"Three boys having the ride of their life and picked a bad time to go up," Fred said.

There are reports the plane was stolen or taken without permission but Fred says his son would have never gotten into a stolen plane.


JASPER, Alabama - Authorities have identified the three teens killed in a plane crash late Tuesday in Walker County. 

Walker County Coroner J.C. Poe identified the victims as Jordan Montgomery, 17, Jordan Smith, 17 and Brandon Ary, 19. Montgomery and Smith were seniors at Meek High School in Arley, Alabama. Ary also attended Meek but had graduated. Officials at the high school declined to comment.  

JASPER, Ala. (AP) — A teen pilot killed along with two friends in an Alabama plane crash had his own key to the aircraft and had flown it many times, his mother said Wednesday, denying authorities’ assertion that the plane had been taken without permission. 

 Sherrie Smith said her 17-year-old son Jordan Smith was the one flying the plane that went down in the Alabama woods Tuesday night, killing the him and two other male teens. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Piper PA 30 crashed less than a mile from the Walker County Airport in Jasper, which is northwest of Birmingham.

Smith says the owner of the plane had let her son fly it many other times and had given her son his own key.

“He had used the plane many times before,” she said.

She said her son was a high school junior who fell in love with flying at an early age and was one test short of earning his private pilot's license.

Her son had left the house around 6 p.m. to meet some friends at another airport in the area, and she said she last spoke to him by cell phone about four hours later. One of her son's friends called later about reports of a plane crash, and she tried to reach Jordan again but couldn't.

Walker County sheriff's Chief Deputy James Painter said earlier Wednesday that authorities believed the three teenagers took off in the plane without permission.

“We don't know for sure but we think it was some teenagers who stole the plane and were sort of joyriding it,” Painter told The Associated Press. “They got it in and took off and didn't go very far.”

Authorities hadn't confirmed the names of the other two who were killed by late Wednesday.

The plane had departed from the small airport around 10:30 p.m. in overcast skies and a low cloud ceiling, airport manager Edwin Banks said.

“It was a student pilot flying an airplane without permission, an airplane that he was not qualified to fly at night,” Banks said.

The teenage pilot had flown a single-engine airplane in the past “and he got in a double-engine at night in bad weather with a couple of his buddies,” Banks said.

The Piper PA 30 is also called a Piper Twin Comanche. It is a low-wing plane with two propellers and can seat four to six, depending on the model.

The planes were built from 1963 until 1972, and were popular with flight schools because of their fuel efficiency and relatively inexpensive price tags, according to the International Comanche Society, an enthusiasts’ group.