A Department of Planning and Natural Resources vessel returns to a St. Thomas dock after participating in the recovery effort for Piper PA-23-250 Aztec B (N5553Y) that crashed south of the island in October 2012. The St. Thomas-St. John District has not had a working enforcement vessel for 18 months.
ST. THOMAS - The V.I. Public Finance Authority on Friday agreed to give additional funds to the V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources so it can buy a new enforcement vessel.
Acting DPNR Commissioner Jean-Pierre Oriol, who participated in Friday's board meeting by telephone, explained to the Public Finance Authority board that the funding is critical.
A $500,000 appropriation for new marine vessels was recommended in the governor's Fiscal Year 2015 budget that he sent to the Legislature, Oriol said.
However, the Senate only appropriated $350,000 for new vessels.
Oriol said $200,000 of that has been allotted, and his staff is in the process of meeting with vendors and negotiating shipping costs. The money they have received so far will allow them to move forward with one of the three boats needed.
The $150,000 request made to the Public Finance Authority on Friday, pooled with the remainder of the Senate appropriation, will allow DPNR to buy the remaining two vessels it needs.
St. Croix's Division of Enforcement currently has one operating vessel, but when repairs and maintenance are required the district is left with no vessel.
The St. Thomas-St. John District has not had a working vessel for 18 months, according to Oriol.
With the additional funding, DPNR will purchase one boat for St. Croix and two for the St. Thomas-St. John District.
The Public Finance Authority also approved a request from Oriol to be the fiduciary for a sum of money that will be used to fund renovations to the State Historic Preservation Office on St. Thomas.
After an executive session, the board voted on a final resolution to give $150,000 to Leisure and Recreation Concepts Inc. to conduct a feasibility study for a multi-purpose sports center and theme park on St. Thomas. The money will come from the Community Facilities Trust Account, which is funded by rum revenues.
The board also approved a request from Seaborne Airlines to use the dock in front of the Kings Alley Hotel along the Christiansted Boardwalk.
The airline will station an old seaplane, fully decorated, to be on display as part of the St. Croix Christmas Boat Parade, which takes place tonight.
Source: http://virginislandsdailynews.com
NTSB Identification: ERA13LA019
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, October 13, 2012 in Charlotte Amalie, VI
Probable Cause Approval Date: 09/12/2013
Aircraft: PIPER PA-23-250, registration: N5553Y
Injuries: 3 Fatal,1 Serious.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The accident airplane departed over water on a dark night and flew toward its destination airport at an altitude of about 1,700 feet above the water. Radar data showed that the airplane began a gradual descent on about the same heading before it leveled off at 200 feet above the water. The airplane continued at 200 feet above the water for another 18 seconds before its radar target disappeared about 5 miles from the destination airport.
The surviving passenger stated that she had flown with the pilot on this flight many times before. She stated that during the en route portion of the accident flight, the pilot flew progressively lower to "get under the weather." The passenger stated that she could see lights on the shore near the destination airport, and could see that it was raining. She recalled light turbulence and observed the pilot make his "usual" radio call. She next remembered the airplane "hitting a wall," and the airplane filled with water. She said that the pilot broke the window on his side of the airplane, and that she and the pilot egressed through it. She did not see any of the other occupants of the airplane after that. When asked if she noticed anything unusual with the flight or if the pilot provided any warning before striking the water, the passenger said no, and indicated that everything was normal.
Examination of the wreckage revealed damage consistent with a high-speed, shallow-angle impact with water, and no evidence of preimpact mechanical anomalies.
Weather data and imagery were consistent with the passenger’s account of flying beneath outer rain bands associated with a developing tropical storm southeast of the accident site. There was little to no illumination from the moon. Based on a search of flight service and commercial vendor records, the pilot did not obtain a weather briefing or file a flight plan before the accident flight.
The destination airport was tower-controlled, but the tower was closed at the time of the accident. The runway was located along the shore, with the approach end surrounded by water on three sides. Multiple instrument approach procedures were available for the airport; however, those instrument approaches were not authorized while the tower was closed. A caution printed in the plan view of the approach charts stated, "CAUTION: Pilots may encounter false illusory indications during night approaches to Runway 10 when using outside visual cues for vertical guidance."
It is likely that the pilot descended the airplane to remain clear of the lowering clouds and descended into the water due to the lack of visual cues.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's attempted visual flight rules (VFR) flight into marginal VFR conditions on a dark night over water and his failure to maintain sufficient altitude, which resulted in the airplane’s controlled flight into water. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight weather planning.
The aircraft in water.
Piper PA-23-250 Aztec B, Island Birds, N5553Y: A wing of the recovered plane breaks the surface.
The plane was floated using air bags. 
A crane lifting the plane from the waters adjacent to Cyril E King airport.
No comments:
Post a Comment