14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, May 24, 2013 in Johnstown, NY
Probable Cause Approval Date: 01/27/2015
Aircraft: PIPER PA-34-200T, registration: N31743
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.
The volunteer medical transport flight was established on course toward an en route navigational fix. Upon reaching the fix, the flight was expected to continue toward the initial approach fix at the destination airport in preparation for an instrument approach; however, about 5 miles southeast of the en route fix, the airplane began to deviate off course. When asked by an air traffic controlller about the reason for the deviation, the pilot stated that the airplane had turned “the wrong way” and indicated that he had incorrectly loaded the instrument approach into the airplane’s GPS. The controller provided a vector to the pilot to return the airplane to the previously established course, and the pilot acknowledged. About 1 minute later, radar contact with the airplane was lost.
Radar data indicated that the airplane entered a rapidly-descending left turn in the final moments of the flight during which it reached an estimated 80-degree left bank, lost about 3,700 feet of altitude in 36 seconds, and accelerated to an airspeed of about 240 knots before breaking up. All fracture surfaces exhibited failure characteristics consistent with overload. Examination of the engines revealed no anomalies. Analysis of weather information for the area of the accident site indicated that the airplane was likely operating in instrument meteorological conditions at the time of the accident but that icing conditions likely were not present in the immediate vicinity. The restricted visibility, turbulence, the airplane’s unexpected off-course turn, the pilot’s resulting distraction with the operation and configuration of the GPS, and possibly his sudden need to fly the airplane without the aid of the autopilot would have been conducive to the development of spatial disorientation. The resulting ground track, rapid turning descent, and breakup were consistent with a loss of control as a result of spatial disorientation.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot’s loss of control due to spatial disorientation in instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane’s design stress limitations, and a subsequent in-flight breakup.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On May 24, 2013, at 1710 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA34-200T, N31743, operating as Angel Flight 743, was destroyed during an in-flight breakup near Johnstown, New York. The commercial pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which departed Laurence G. Hanscom Field Airport (BED), Bedford, Massachusetts, and was destined for Griffiss International Airport (RME), Rome, New York. The flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The purpose of the volunteer medical transport flight was to return the patient and his spouse from the Boston, Massachusetts, area to their home in New York. The flight departed BED at 1603, and the pilot contacted air traffic control (ATC). Radar contact was established at 1604, and the flight was incrementally cleared to a cruise altitude of 8,000 feet msl.
At 1630, ATC advised the pilot of an area of moderate to occasionally heavy precipitation along the airplane's route of flight. The pilot indicated that he "[had] the weather upload" and was aware of the precipitation. ATC instructed the pilot to advise if he required a deviation around the weather, and the pilot acknowledged. About 15 minutes later, the pilot requested and was issued a 20-degree left deviation for precipitation.
At 1643, ATC asked the pilot if he was able to turn back on course. The pilot requested to fly to the very high frequency omni-directional range (VOR) at Albany International Airport (ALB), Albany, New York, and then stated that he could resume the planned course. After passing ALB, the pilot was cleared direct to ROOMS intersection. The pilot acknowledged, and established the airplane on an approximate 290-degree track toward the intersection.
At 1703, the pilot was issued a frequency change to the Syracuse, New York approach control facility. The pilot subsequently contacted ATC on the new frequency and advised that he had the current weather information at RME. The controller advised the pilot of areas of light to moderate precipitation along the airplane's route and suggested a deviation to avoid the precipitation; however, the pilot elected to stay on course to ROOMS, then planned to turn left to fly direct to the Utica VOR in Utica, New York, before proceeding to RME.
Around 1708, ATC noted that the airplane had begun a right turn to the north from its established track toward ROOMS. When ATC queried the pilot about the deviation, he replied, "Yeah I turned the wrong way here I'm sorry I thought I loaded the…approach correctly but I didn't it turned me toward the wrong [unintelligible]…." ATC provided the pilot with a heading of 280 degrees to return on course, which the pilot acknowledged by replying, "two eight zero." About this time, the airplane initiated a descending left turn, and radar contact was lost about one minute later.
Radar data showed the airplane established on a track of about 290 degrees toward ROOMS intersection at an altitude of 8,300 feet. About 1707, approximately five miles southeast of ROOMS, the airplane began a gradual right turn to the north. At 1708, the airplane turned north-northeast and continued on that track for about one minute before beginning a descending left turn. The last three recorded radar targets, between 21:09:01 and 21:09:19, showed the airplane at altitudes of 8,200 feet, 7,800 feet, and 6,700 feet respectively. The last recorded radar return placed the airplane about 1,500 feet west of the main wreckage.
A witness near the accident site reported that she observed the airplane in a steep bank at an altitude "around 1,000 feet" as it flew southwest in the direction of the Garoga Reservoir, located about 7 miles west-northwest of Johnstown, New York. She reported that the left wing was missing from the airplane. As it disappeared from her view behind a row of trees, she heard an "explosion," then ran across the road to render assistance to any victims.
Another witness, who was canoeing with a friend on the reservoir at the time of the accident, stated that he heard a "loud whining noise like an engine at full throttle." As he watched the airplane descend and grow closer, he heard a "loud bang" and subsequently observed it break apart. He stated that he saw an engine falling, and that it impacted land. "Bolts and other small parts" fell around the canoe, and the men rowed away to avoid being hit. The witness saw the fuselage descending, and heard it impact the water, but could not see where it impacted.
A third witness near the accident site described hearing the airplane circle the area "from the south to the east to the north and then to the west." He stated that the engines sounded as though they were "revving" up and down. He then heard the sound of an explosion, and observed parts of the airplane falling to the ground.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
The pilot, age 70, held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane multiengine land and instrument airplane, and a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single engine land and sea. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration third class medical certificate was issued on May 16, 2013.
Review of the pilot's personal flight logs indicated that he had completed a 1.2-hour combined flight review and instrument proficiency check in November 2012. In the six months preceding the accident flight, the pilot logged about 53 total hours of flight time, of which about 9 hours were in actual instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). All of the flight time in actual IMC was logged in the 30 days prior to the accident flight. At the time of the accident, the pilot had logged about 1,746 total hours of flight time, of which over 1,000 hours were in the accident airplane make and model.
AIRPLANE INFORMATION
The airplane was manufactured in 1978 and registered to the pilot in 1998. It was equipped with two Continental TSIO-360 turbocharged, reciprocating engines, each of which produced 200 horsepower. Review of maintenance logs indicated that the most recent annual inspection was completed on March 3, 2013 at a total aircraft time of 3,505.4 hours. At the time of the accident, the airplane had accumulated a total time of 3550.6 hours.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
The 1653 weather observation at RME, located about 40 miles northwest of the accident site, included winds from 330 degrees magnetic at 8 knots, 10 statute miles visibility in light rain, broken cloud layers at 2,300 and 2,800 feet, overcast clouds at 3,700 feet, temperature 7 degrees C, dew point 4 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 30.06 inches of mercury.
Schenectady County Airport (SCH), Schenectady, New York, was located about 27 miles to the east-southeast of the accident site. A human-augmented report issued at 1645 included wind from 320 degrees at 8 knots gusting to 16 knots, 7 statute miles visibility, overcast clouds at 2,600 feet, temperature 8 degrees C, dew point 7 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 29.96 inches of mercury.
ALB was located approximately 36 miles to the east-southeast of the accident site. The 1651 observation included wind from 310 degrees at 9 knots, 1.5 statute miles visibility, runway 1 visual range variable between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, rain, mist, and overcast clouds at 800 feet, variable between 500 and 1,100 feet.
An upper air sounding retrieved from a rawinsode launch at 2000 in Albany, New York indicated that the majority of the troposphere was stable or conditionally unstable. A temperature inversion was noted between 5,700 and 7,400 feet. The freezing level was approximately 4,300 feet, with the potential for moderate icing near 10,000 and 14,000 feet. A wind profile indicated a generally northerly wind from 1,000 feet to 7,500 feet, with magnitudes between 12 and 24 knots, and a potential for significant turbulence near 7,500 feet.
Weather radar imagery from Albany, New York, about the time of the accident, depicted light values of reflectivity over much of the area surrounding the accident site with moderate values immediately to the west and southwest of the accident site. Imagery identified the presence of "big drops" of rain in the vicinity of the accident site, with wet snow and snow pellets to the west of the accident site, indicative of melting snow in the area.
Airmen's Meteorological Information (AIRMET) advisories, issued at 1645 for IMC and mountain obscuration, moderate turbulence below 8,000 feet, and moderate icing between the freezing level and 22,000 feet, were valid for the region surrounding the accident site.
The Area Forecast for northeastern New York issued at 1331 and valid for the accident time predicted overcast cloud ceilings at 1,000 to 2,000 feet with cloud tops to 18,000 feet, surface visibility 3-5 miles, light rain, and mist.
There were no records of the pilot obtaining a weather briefing from Lockheed Martin Flight Services, DTC DUAT, or CSC DUATs weather information services. Review of data provided by a third-party internet flight planning and weather briefing service showed that the pilot filed the flight plan for the accident flight about 1020 the morning of the accident. The pilot also accessed a weather radar summary map for the route of the accident flight at this time.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
The debris field measured approximately one mile in length, beginning on the southeast side of Garoga Reservoir, continuing to the north side of the reservoir, and was oriented on a heading of approximately 360 degrees magnetic. Portions of the empennage, sections of the left wing, and portions of the fuselage skin were located south of the reservoir. The main wreckage came to rest in the reservoir. The left engine was found on the north side of the reservoir. (See figure 1.)
Figure 1 - Wreckage Diagram
The main wreckage consisted of the majority of the fuselage, the right wing, and right engine. The aft fuselage sides and roof section were separated from the main wreckage, and the forward roof section was also separated, but was recovered with the main wreckage. The forward baggage door was in place and found in the latched position.
The right wing remained attached at its root, and displayed significant impact damage along its entire span. The aileron remained attached, and control continuity was confirmed to the cockpit. The wing flap remained attached and was observed in the retracted position. The right engine was partially separated from the wing. The vacuum pump remained attached to the accessory section and was removed and disassembled for inspection; the shear shaft and all vanes were intact and undamaged. The three-bladed propeller remained attached at its hub, and two of the blades exhibited aft bending.
The left wing was separated into three sections. The inboard section, from the outboard side of the landing gear to the wing root, remained attached to the fuselage and main wreckage. Aileron control continuity was established from the cockpit to the wing root. The midspan section was separated from the engine nacelle to about two feet inboard of the wingtip, and the inboard half of the aileron remained attached to this section. The outboard section was comprised of the outboard two feet of wing and the wingtip fairing. The outboard half of the aileron and the entirety of the flap were located along the debris path.
The vertical stabilizer and rudder were separated from the airplane, but remained attached to each other at their hinge points. Several inches of rudder control cable remained attached, including the aft turnbuckle. Cable separations displayed signatures consistent with overload failure.
The horizontal stabilator was separated into two sections, each of which were found along the debris path. The left side portion included the stabilator hinge point, a section of the aft bulkhead, the trim tab drum assembly, and the full span of the stabilator trim tab. The entire section exhibited a downward bend. The right section of the stabilator also displayed diagonal wrinkles and down-bending of the spar. The stabilator pitch trim drum inner shaft extension position corresponded to a slightly nose-down trim setting.
The left engine, propeller, and firewall were separated from the wing and came to rest inverted in a field north of the reservoir. The propeller remained attached at its hub. The vacuum pump remained attached. The rotor vanes were damaged, and the drive shaft was not recovered.
The wreckage was recovered and later examined in its entirety at a secure storage facility. Examination of the airplane revealed that all fracture surfaces exhibited failure characteristics consistent with overload. The left and right wing fracture surfaces and compression damage were consistent with upward loading on the wings. Compression damage of the upper right wing skin and upper portion of the fuselage was consistent with impact with water.
Left and right horizontal stabilator bending, fracture, and compression damage were consistent with both upward and downward loading.
The top spark plugs were removed from each engine. The spark plugs from the right engine were wet and exhibited significant corrosion. The left engine spark plugs were gray in color and exhibited normal wear. The engine crankshafts were rotated by hand at their respective propellers, and thumb compression was obtained on all cylinders. Both engines displayed continuity to their accessory drives, and rotation of the input shafts of all four magnetos produced spark at each of their respective terminal leads.
The airplane was equipped with deicing boots on the horizontal stabilator, but a placard in the cockpit indicated "surface de-ice boots inop." Review of maintenance logs revealed that the airplane was previously equipped with deicing boots on the wings, which were removed in January 2010. The pitot heat switch was found in the "off" position.
The airplane was equipped with an electronic primary flight display (PFD) unit that interfaced with a panel-mounted global positioning system (GPS) unit and autopilot system. The GPS unit was capable of displaying NEXRAD satellite-delivered weather radar data, along with other textual weather synopsis and forecast products. The airplane was equipped with a two-axis autopilot system that was capable of being coupled to the GPS for course guidance.
The pilot's Google Nexus tablet computer was recovered from the main wreckage and sent to the NTSB recorders laboratory for download. Due to water damage, no data could be recovered from the unit.
An Insight Avionics GEM-1200 graphic engine monitor unit was also recovered and sent to the NTSB recorders laboratory for download. Seven recording sessions were retrieved, including five sessions dated 5/24/2013; however, certain configuration and time setting information could not be retrieved, and the data could not be positively correlated to the accident flight and time.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
An autopsy was performed on the pilot on May 27, 2013 at the Albany Medical Center in Albany, NY. The cause of death was listed as "massive traumatic blunt force injuries."
Toxicological testing was performed on the pilot by the FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Testing was negative for carbon monoxide and ethanol. Losartan, an FAA-accepted high blood pressure medication, was detected in muscle and liver samples. The pilot reported use of this medication on his most recent FAA medical certificate application.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Performance Studies
Performance and trajectory studies were conducted to determine the accident airplane's altitude, speed, and rate of descent about the time of the breakup.
Correlation of radar data indicated that during the last minute of the flight, the airplane was established on a northerly track at an altitude of 8,300 feet msl and airspeed of about 130 knots. The airplane descended in a left spiraling turn, lost about 3,700 feet of altitude in 36 seconds, and accelerated to an airspeed of about 240 knots prior to the breakup.
A trajectory model utilizing the distribution of the wreckage, the approximate airspeed obtained from the radar performance study, and the wind conditions present at the time of the accident, produced results consistent with a breakup at an altitude near 4,600 feet msl, about 3,600 feet agl.
According to the manufacturer's pilot operating handbook, the airplane's never exceed speed (Vne) was 195 knots, and its design maneuvering speed (Va) was 138 knots at maximum gross weight.
Spatial Disorientation
The FAA publication Medical Facts for Pilots (AM-400-03/1), described several vestibular illusions associated with the operation of aircraft in low visibility conditions. Somatogyral illusions, those involving the semicircular canals of the vestibular system, were generally placed into one of four categories, one of which was the "graveyard spiral." According to the text, the graveyard spiral, "…is associated with a return to level flight following an intentional or unintentional prolonged bank turn. For example, a pilot who enters a banking turn to the left will initially have a sensation of a turn in the same direction. If the left turn continues (~20 seconds or more), the pilot will experience the sensation that the airplane is no longer turning to the left. At this point, if the pilot attempts to level the wings this action will produce a sensation that the airplane is turning and banking in the opposite direction (to the right). If the pilot believes the illusion of a right turn (which can be very compelling), he/she will reenter the original left turn in an attempt to counteract the sensation of a right turn. Unfortunately, while this is happening, the airplane is still turning to the left and losing altitude. Pulling the control yoke/stick and applying power while turning would not be a good idea–because it would only make the left turn tighter. If the pilot fails to recognize the illusion and does not level the wings, the airplane will continue turning left and losing altitude until it impacts the ground."
The Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A) described some hazards associated with flying when the ground or horizon are obscured. "The vestibular sense (motion sensing by the inner ear) in particular tends to confuse the pilot. Because of inertia, the sensory areas of the inner ear cannot detect slight changes in the attitude of the airplane, nor can they accurately sense attitude changes that occur at a uniform rate over a period of time. On the other hand, false sensations are often generated; leading the pilot to believe the attitude of the airplane has changed when in fact, it has not. These false sensations result in the pilot experiencing spatial disorientation."
http://registry.faa.gov/N31743
NTSB Identification: ERA13FA253
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, May 24, 2013 in Johnstown, NY
Aircraft: PIPER PA-34-200T, registration: N31743
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 May 24, 2013, at 1710 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-34-200T, N31743, operating as Angel Flight 743, was destroyed during an in-flight breakup near Johnstown, New York. The certificated commercial pilot and one passenger were fatally injured; the second passenger was missing and presumed fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which departed Laurence G. Hanscom Field Airport (BED), Bedford, Massachusetts, and was destined for Griffiss International Airport (RME), Rome, New York. The flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The purpose of the volunteer medical transport flight was to return the patient and his spouse from the Boston, Massachusetts area to their home in New York. The flight departed BED about 1604, and climbed to its planned cruise altitude of 8,000 feet. Preliminary air traffic control radar data obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration revealed that the airplane was established on a northwest heading near Ephratah, New York, when, at 1708, the airplane altered its course to the north-northeast. The airplane continued on this track for approximately one minute before beginning a descending left turn towards the south. The last recorded radar return, at 1709:19, placed the airplane about 1,500 feet northwest of the accident site, at an altitude of 6,700 feet.
The wreckage path measured approximately one mile in length, beginning on the southeast side of the Garoga Reservoir, continuing to the north end of the reservoir, and oriented on a heading of approximately 360 degrees magnetic. The left side of the horizontal stabilator, the vertical stabilizer and rudder, sections of the left wing, and portions of the fuselage skin were located south of the reservoir. The main wreckage, including the majority of the fuselage and cabin area, along with the right wing and engine, came to rest in the reservoir. The left engine was found on the north side of the reservoir.
The main wreckage was recovered from the reservoir on May 28, 2013, and transported to a secure facility for further examination.
The 1653 weather observation at RME, located about 40 miles northwest of the accident site, included winds from 330 degrees magnetic at 8 knots, 10 statute miles visibility in light rain, broken cloud layers at 2,300 and 2,800 feet, overcast clouds at 3,700 feet, temperature 7 degrees C, dew point 4 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 30.06 inches of mercury.
Remains of Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II (N31743) that crashed in Ephratah are shown near the crash scene Wednesday.
The Leader-Herald/Arthur Cleveland
The Garoga Creek
reservoir was in the midst of being drained Wednesday in the search for a
body from Friday’s plane crash in Ephratah. On Wednesday afternoon, the
reservoir had dropped 15 feet since 10 p.m. Tuesday. It was expected to
be fully drained by today.
The Leader-Herald/Arthur Cleveland
FULTON COUNTY, N.Y. -- Investigators released the names of the people killed in the plane crash in Fulton County on Friday.
They said Evelyn Amerosa, 58, and Frank Amerosa, 64, a couple from Utica, were killed, along with the pilot, John Campbell, 70 of Stamford, Connecticut.
The flight was an Angel Flight, a volunteer organization that provides free air travel for people with medical needs.
Searchers have recovered the bodies of John Campbell and Evelyn Amerosa. They are still trying to find Frank Amerosa.
"The rangers are coordinating a search team. We have probably anywhere between 50-60 searchers that are going to be searching today in groups. We do have the state troopers here with their dive team. They have sonar on the pond as we speak,” said Mark Souza, Rockwood Garoga Lassellsville Fire Department Chief.
Divers found the fuselage of the plane in the Garoga reservoir on Friday. It's been moved to a different part of the reservoir to look at it with special sonar equipment.
And Monday, a special recovery team is expected to pull it out of the water completely.
=====================
Ephratah, New York - A cancer patient and his wife lost their lives to a remote Fulton County plane crash Friday afternoon that left behind a vast wreckage site that authorities still combed on Saturday in hopes of finding the aircraft's pilot, who was feared dead.
Just hours earlier, Terence Kindlon and Dale Thuillez, two high-powered Albany lawyers, had flown the couple aboard a different plane from Rome, Oneida County, to Boston, where the man was receiving treatment.
"It's just crushing," said Kindlon the morning after the crash, his shock still palpable.
Kindlon and Thuillez are volunteer pilots for Angel Flight Northeast, a nonprofit organization that connects pilots with patients in need of non-emergency medical transport.
Angel Flight coordinated the couple's flight to Boston, piloted by Thuillez, as well their return trip to Rome aboard the Piper PA 34 aircraft that tragically went down just after 5 p.m. Friday in the sleepy, 700-person town of Ephratah.
The ill-fated plane departed Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass., only a few hours after Kindlon and Thuillez had dropped the couple off at Logan International Airport.
The man, Thuillez said, was a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War who had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a brain cancer, about a year ago. He regularly received an experimental cancer treatment at a Boston hospital. It was the second time Thuillez had been the couple's pilot.
"We saw them five hours before they crashed," said Thuillez, who had only received news of the crash early Saturday.
"It was a happy couple," he recalled. "They were really just great."
Both attorneys declined to identify the couple, deferring to authorities.
The flight to Boston on Friday morning was uneventful – there was heavy rain and low-lying clouds, but it was overall a routine hour-long ride from Central New York to Boston.
On a previous flight, Thuillez said the man sat up front in the co-pilot's seat, getting a kick out of flying in his Pilatus PC-12, a sophisticated single-engine turboprop plane.
On Friday's flight, his old Albany Law School buddy, Kindlon, tagged along, an unofficial co-pilot. Both have volunteered for Angel Flight for years – Thuillez has made over 50 volunteer flights. Angel Flight NE has scheduled more than 60,000 missions since 1996. It has recruited nearly 1,000 volunteer pilots, who are required to have completed at least 500 hours of flight time, among other rigorous conditions, before becoming volunteers.
It is still unclear what caused the return flight, piloted by another volunteer, to go awry. Witnesses said the plane appeared to have engine trouble before it crashed, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's office.
At some point, somehow the plane's fuselage broke apart, leaving fragments scattered across a debris field that authorities said was perhaps as large as one-square mile. The bulk of the plane was found submerged in a large pond.
Joan Dudley, the owner of Granny's Ice Cream Shanty, located near the crash site, heard the small plane begin its emergency descent, even before she saw it.
"It sounded like something was going to drop on top of us," she said Saturday. "It was an airplane that just fell apart in the middle of the sky and then crashed."
As its fuselage began to break apart, she said, the plane began to "roll over and over again," mid-air, until it finally crashed not even a mile from the ice cream stand. The twin-engine aircraft has a 39-foot wingspan and can reach a top speed of 235 mph.
"It was right over my business," she said. "It it had come down any sooner, it probably would have crashed right into the ice cream store."
The bodies of the husband and wife were recovered Friday. Authorities sent in divers to drag the pond, where they believed the pilot's body was likely submerged among the wreckage. The search will resume Sunday, officials said late Saturday night.
The names of the crash victims were not released Saturday afternoon.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are still investigating the crash, though the NTSB is ultimately charged with determining the probable cause of the accident.
Source: http://www.timesunion.com
EPHRATAH - Authorities have found the bodies of the pilot and one passenger of a twin-engine plane that crashed in the hamlet of Rockwood on Friday evening, and they continue to search for the body of the second passenger.
Fulton County Sheriff Thomas Lorey said today the fuselage of the plane, which includes the cockpit and passenger compartment, has been found at the bottom of a 30-foot deep reservoir in Ephratah owned by Canadian renewable energy company Brookfield Power, which operates a dam near the crash site.
Lorey said a New York State Police dive team searched the area around the wreckage of the plane but didn't find a third body. He said the dive team has not yet been able to search the interior of the wreck because it has been deemed too dangerous. The dive team was attempting to stabilize and raise the structure using inflatable airbags this evening.
"When we get it to the surface, we will have to search the fuselage completely to see if there is anything in there. We have no idea where the third body is; the debris field is as far as a five miles around the crash," Lorey said. "We won't release anybody's name until we recover the third body."
The airplane was part of Angel Flight Northeast, a division of the Angel Flight not-for-profit flying organization that provides air transportation and volunteer pilots for people with serious medical needs.
Lorey confirmed Saturday that the two passengers of the plane were a married couple from Utica and the pilot was from somewhere in Connecticut. He said one of the Utica residents had been receiving medical treatment near Bedford, Mass., where the plane took off, and the flight was scheduled to land in Rome, New York.
Source: http://www.leaderherald.com
Ephratah — Authorities searched a small reservoir today for the pilot in Friday’s deadly plane crash in the town of Ephratah, but as of noon a body had not been recovered.
Two bodies were recovered Friday evening, but their identities have not been released. The missing pilot is believed to be dead.
The search picked up around 8 a.m. today, with rescue workers primarily focused on the reservoir known locally as the Garoga Dam — by Murray Hill Road in the hamlet of Rockwood. A dive team remained out there into the afternoon, but Town Supervisor Todd Bradt said no one was really sure if that’s where the body would be since the debris field was so spread out.
“This could take all day,” he said early this morning, as a steady rain fell. “They can’t see anything. They don’t know if it’s even in there. They don’t know where it is.”
At around noon, crews were working to extract the fuselage from the dam, which is run by Brookfield Power Corp through National Grid, said Bradt.
About a dozen officials first gathered at the R.G.L. Fire Department on Route 29, before splitting up equipment and personnel between two command centers — one at the Ephratah Town Barn on Route 10 and one at Granny’s Ice Cream Shanty on Route 29 by Royal Mountain Campsite.
Granny’s owner Joan Dudley told The Associated Press that she and her employees were among the first at the scene Friday night.
“We were just leaving to get something to eat, and we heard this noise,” Dudley said.
“We looked up and saw the plane flipping in the air. Then it fell apart,” she said. “Parts and pieces of it were flying through the sky, and a body fell out.”
They called 911 as they parked their car and ran to the crash site in the rain to see if they could rescue anyone.
“Airplane parts were all over the place,” she said. “They were picking them up all over last night.”
The small aircraft — a twin-engine Piper PA 34 — crashed at around 5:10 p.m. Friday across from the ice cream shop in a wooded area south of Route 29 that is bordered on the west by Route 10. Three people were on the plane, which the Federal Aviation Administration said was en route from Bedford, Mass., to Oneida County Airport in Rome.
There is no word yet as to what caused the crash. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause, and could not be reached Saturday.
The plane was flown by a volunteer with Angel Flight, a nonprofit group that provides free air service to financially strapped patients who need diagnosis or non-emergency treatment. They also fly families out to medical facilities, people who are unable to use public transportation because of their medical condition or those who live in remote areas where public transportation is not available, according to the organization’s website.
A sheriff’s patrol car blocked access this morning to a driveway at 3781 Route 10, a private residence across from the town barn and near the reservoir where rescue workers operated ATVs and trucks. At around 9 a.m., most of the search crew had left this command area and moved down the road to access the dam from a private residence across from Granny’s.
Agencies assisting in the search include Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, Rockwood-Garoga-Lasselsville Volunteer Fire Co., Montgomery County Emergency Services, New York State Police, New York State Forest Ranger and local volunteers.
Fulton County Sheriff Tom Lorey declined to comment Saturday morning. Three reporters showed up to the R.G.L. Fire Department in Rockwood at 8 a.m., having been told a news conference would be held, but officials at the scene today said no such conference would take place.
Source: http://www.dailygazette.com
EPHRATAH — A crane and divers worked Tuesday to remove the wreckage of a small plane from a Fulton County pond as searchers used dogs to scour the area for a brain cancer patient who was on board the volunteer medical flight that crashed last week.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Eric Weiss said equipment and salvage personnel were in place to pull the fuselage out of a pond in Ephratah, an hour west of Albany.
Frank and Evelyn Amerosa of Utica were aboard the Angel Flight on Friday night when the twin-engine aircraft went down, according to police and family members.
Rescue workers have been scouring woods and a big, murky pond where the bulk of the aircraft was submerged. Wreckage from the crash was dispersed over a large area, with pieces of the plane and documents found as far as five miles away.
John Campbell, 70, of Stamford, Conn., was flying the couple back from the Boston area, where Frank Amerosa was being treated for brain cancer, officials and family said.
The bodies of both Campbell and Evelyn Amerosa were recovered from the crash site. Searchers continued to look for the body of 64-year-old Frank Amerosa on Tuesday, authorities said. The retired trucker had been diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago.
Campbell was a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight, a nonprofit group that arranges free air transportation for the sick. Angel Flight Northeast said it has set up free air transportation and medical care for more than 65,000 children and adults on about 60,000 flights covering more than 12 million miles. It was founded in 1996.
Weiss said salvage workers hoped to have the wreckage out of the pond by the end of the day. He said the fuselage as well as debris collected from surrounding woods and fields will be transported to a secure facility in Delaware to be examined by crash investigators.
The Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II departed from Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass., and was headed to Rome, N.Y., before it crashed just after 5 p.m. Friday, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. The plane did not issue a distress call before losing radar and radio contact, the NTSB said.
Weiss said a preliminary NTSB report on the accident will be issued in about two weeks, with a final report on the probable cause in about 18 months.
Source: http://www.timesunion.com
