NTSB Identification: ERA16FA044
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, November 19, 2015 in North Salem, NY
Aircraft: BEECH F33A, registration: N9318Q
Injuries: 2 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 November 19, 2015, about 1545 eastern standard time, a Beech F33A, N9318Q, impacted the Titicus Reservoir near North Salem, New York, while executing a non-precision instrument approach into the Danbury Municipal Airport (DXR), Danbury, Connecticut. The private pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The airplane came to rest in about 60 feet of water and sustained damage to the flight control surfaces and fuselage. The airplane was registered to the pilot and operated as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Instrument flight rules were reported at the airport at the time of the accident. The flight originated at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport (PKB), Parkersburg, West Virginia, about 1325.
A preliminary review of air traffic control (ATC) communications revealed the pilot was vectored to and cleared for the LOC RWY 8 approach. The pilot acknowledged the clearance. As the controller was preparing to terminate radar services and transfer communications, he noticed the airplane was in a descending right turn away from the airport. The airplane descended to an altitude of 1,500 feet before it began a climb to 2,400 feet on a westerly heading. The airplane then disappeared off radar. An initial search for the airplane was not conducted due to poor weather conditions. Airplane debris was located the following day on the shoreline of the Titicus Reservoir, about 8 miles southwest of the airport.
Weather reported at the airport at 1353, was wind from 140 degrees at 6 knots, visibility 1.25-mile, light rain, mist, overcast ceiling 900 feet, temperature 14 degrees, dewpoint 12 degrees, and a barometric pressure setting 30.09 in Hg, with remarks that the ceiling was variable between 600 and 1,200 feet.
The pilot held a private pilot certificate for airplane single-engine land, instrument airplane. His last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) third class medical was issued on May 19, 2015. At that time, he reported a total of 1,940 total hours
The airplane will be placed in a secure facility for further examination once it is recovered from the water.
FAA Flight Standards District Office: FAA New York FSDO-15
Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation may contact them by email eyewitnessreport@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov.
Taew and Val HorsaThe search for the airplane which plummeted into the Titicus Reservoir last week was called off Saturday after divers recovered more parts from the aircraft.
The state Department of Environmental Protection’s dive team recovered the propeller and engine parts of the plane that disappeared from radar during its approach to Danbury Airport in Connecticut on Nov. 19, Adam Bosch, spokesman for the DEP, wrote in an email.
Bosch wrote that the DEP, which took the lead in the recovery of the airplane, will cease its search of the reservoir's floor for additional airplane parts. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will continue the investigation into the crash.
The recovery of additional parts of the plane comes a day after significant human remains were found in the cockpit of the plane at the bottom of the reservoir, as well as another of the plane’s wings.
The human remains discovered at the reservoir have yet to be identified, the Westchester Medical Examiner’s Office said on Saturday.
Val Horsa, who was the pilot, and his wife, Taew, are believed to be the only two people in the four-person airplane when it crashed, according to Horsa’s son, Eric.
Val Horsa and his wife were flying in their 1971 Beechcraft Bonanza as they returned from a pleasure trip in Tunica, Mississippi, on Nov. 19. The plane stopped at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport in Williamstown, West Virginia, before leaving for Danbury at 1:25 p.m. It had been due in Danbury Airport shortly before 4 p.m.
The plane vanished from radar during its approach to Danbury Airport around 4:30 p.m. as it was flying through bad weather.
The investigation into the plane’s whereabouts pointed across the state border in the area of the Titicus Reservoir.
Local and state authorities began the search for the plane in the reservoir and in the heavily wooded area around it that same night. Boats with floodlights could be seen scouring the river. Authorities had to call off the search around 1 a.m. due to heavy fog.
On Nov. 20, officials spotted an oil sheen in the middle of the waterway, and later found human remains, in addition to small pieces of debris from the plane, including a seat and wheels.
Divers discovered a portion of the plane's rear fuselage, as well as additional debris from the plane, in the reservoir in approximately 60 feet of water on Nov. 21. A specialized contractor was also called in earlier this week to assist in recovery of the sunken plane.
Eric Horsa, of Ridgefield, watches on Wednesday as authorities continued their search of the Titicus Reservoir for pieces of a small plane that crashed last week in North Salem, N.Y. Horsa believes his father and stepmother, Val Horsa and Taew Robinson, were on board the aircraft.
The Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office might identify the victims as early as Monday, according to Adam Bosch, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
While authorities have yet to identify the victims, Ridgefield resident Eric Horsa has said he believes his father, Val Horsa, and stepmother, Taew Robinson, owners of a Danbury restaurant, were the two occupants of the plane that went down on Nov. 19 into the Titicus Reservoir.
Investigators from the New York State Police and DEP have been combing the reservoir for more than a week.
Bosch said the majority of the small plane has been recovered, including large portions of the wings, the cockpit and the tail. A control panel and a firewall that sits between the occupants and the engine were found on Wednesday.
Other items recovered from the plane have included clothing, seat cushions and other personal belongings, which washed up on the reservoir’s shore.
He said on Friday the only remaining piece targeted by divers was the plane’s engine.
Eric Horsa said his father and stepmother were owners of Bangkok Restaurant in Danbury and that his father had been flying for 30 years.
The South Salem, N.Y. couple was returning to Danbury Airport from a short trip to Mississippi when the plane disappeared from radar.
Significant human remains” were recovered Friday , along with additional debris, in the ongoing search for the small plane believed to have crashed into the Titicus Reservoir last week.
Divers recovered more human remains in the North Salem reservoir, Adam Bosch, spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection, wrote in an email. The remains were found inside the cockpit area of the plane.
Bosch said that “it seems likely” the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office may be able to confirm the identities of the plane’s occupants by Monday.
Val Horsa and his wife, Taew, are believed to be the two people in the four-person aircraft when it crashed, according to Horsa’s son, Eric.
Divers searching the reservoir also recovered the cockpit portion of the airplane, and a significant portion of another wing. The only large piece of the plane yet to be recovered is the engine, Bosch said, but divers believe they know where it may be. Crews will continue their search on Saturday.
Val Horsa, who was the pilot, and his wife were flying in their Beech F33A Bonanza as they returned from a pleasure trip in Tunica, Mississippi, on Nov. 19. The plane stopped at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport in Williamstown, West Virginia, for about half an hour before leaving for Danbury at 1:25 p.m. It had been due in Danbury Airport shortly before 4 p.m.
But as the plane was flying through bad weather around 4:30 p.m., it vanished from radar during its approach to Danbury Airport. The investigation into the plane’s whereabouts pointed across the state border in the area of the Titicus Reservoir.
Local and state authorities began the search for the plane in the reservoir and in the heavily wooded area around it that same night. Boats with floodlights could be seen scouring the river. Authorities had to call off the search around 1 a.m. Friday morning due to heavy fog.
On Friday, officials spotted an oil sheen in the middle of the waterway, and later found human remains, in addition to small pieces of debris from the plane, including the a seat and wheels.
Divers discovered a 20-by-20 foot portion of the plane's rear fuselage in the reservoir last Saturday. Divers battled cold temperatures as they attempted to retrieve the fuselage in approximately 60 feet of water. Additional debris, including the plane’s wing flap, seat and door were also found.
A specialized contract was called in earlier this week to assist in recovery of the sunken plane.
Source: http://www.lohud.com
Rescue teams on Sunday found the back portion of the tail’s fuselage and what appears to be the passenger compartment in a Westchester County reservoir, but those pieces were too heavy to be pulled, said Adam Bosch, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
Bosch said his agency and the National Transportation Safety Board hope a contractor with heavy equipment will come to the Titicus Reservoir in North Salem, N.Y., as early as Tuesday to remove the plane.
Authorities said the large pieces recovered so far are consistent with a 1971 Beechcraft Bonanza that was returning to Danbury Airport when it vanished south of the reservoir about 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Although officials have not yet identified the human remains found in that reservoir, Ridgefield resident Eric Horsa has said his father and stepmother are likely the victims.
The South Salem, N.Y., couple — Val Horsa and Taew Robinson — left Danbury Airport Monday for short a trip to Mississippi and have been missing since Thursday, Eric Horsa said.
The couple owned Bangkok Restaurant on Newtown Road.
Evidence of the victims believed to be inside the plane haven’t been found, but Bosch said some items have washed ashore, including a piece of clothing and an eye-glasses case.
Smaller pieces of the plane’s body and the wing have also been found, but the nose and most of the main cabin remain missing.
DANBURY, CT (WFSB) - A couple on a quick trip to celebrate a birthday was killed after their Danbury-bound plane disappeared into a New York reservoir.
On Friday, search crews from several towns in New York for a missing single-engine plane that was bound for Danbury Municipal Airport. They located human remains, along with some debris, but still no sight of the plane.
The couple believed to be aboard the plane was identified as Val and Taew Horsa by their son.
"We'll see you when we get back, don't worry about me,” Eric Horsa, who is the son of Val Horsa, said.
Eric Horsa said that's how it was with his father and flying. Val Horsa and his step mom, Taew, took off Sunday for Mississippi.
"He was always conscientious about safety. The right amount of weight, the fuel,” Eric Horsa said.
Eric Horsa said his dad had been flying for roughly 30 years.
The Beech F33A Bonanza was last on radar about 6 miles from the airport on Thursday around 4:30 p.m. Its disappearance prompted the search near North Salem, NY.
State police in New York confirmed that suspected debris from the Beech F33A Bonanza was located around 9 a.m. on Friday.
Official said they recovered a seat and wheels thanks to a sheen that was spotted on the water of the Titicus Reservoir.
"It was basically to get a little relaxation because in the restaurant business there is no free time, when your days are off you're still working,” Eric Horsa said. “In order for my mom, he would take her away, so there was no way to getting to her addiction, which was the restaurant. She loved it."
In 1986 the couple opened the Bangkok Thai Restaurant on Newtown Road in Danbury. Friends at the Bangkok Thai Restaurant said Taew’s passion was cooking and for Val, it was flying.
"Every year they'd go places. I went to the Bahamas with them, went to Maryland,” friend Phouvieng Chanla said.
Chanla said she used to waitress at the restaurant years ago and remained friends with the couple
"My husband called me this morning and was like I heard the plane crash in Danbury, ‘hope it’s not Val or Taew,’” Chanla said. “I was like, ‘no it’s not them, they're on vacation.’ And around 11 [a.m.] he texted my friend and was like yes."
Officials from the New York State Department of Environmental Protection and several other area police and fire departments have been searching the Titicus Reservoir since they were notified around 8:30 p.m.
They said Friday morning that they had to temporarily suspend the search because of fog. They resumed a few hours later with helicopters scouring the area.
Crews called off the search for Friday night, but the New York City authorities said it will be back out on Saturday morning at sun rise to resume their efforts.
With potential debris discovered, divers from the New York State Police and Department of Environmental Protection will be searching the reservoir's waters as part of the investigation.
The reservoir stores 7 billion gallons of water, but officials said there is no threat to the water supply.
A sudden loss everyone was struggling to deal with on Friday.
"You just never know when to say goodbye,” Eric Horsa said.
Story and video: http://www.wfsb.com
Val and Taew HorsaNORTH SALEM - Searchers have found human remains as well as debris, including a seat and wheels, from a small plane believed to have crashed into the Titicus Reservoir Thursday evening as it approached Danbury Airport, officials said Friday.
Two people are believed to have died in the crash.
Eric Horsa of Ridgefield, Connecticut, identified the pilot on Friday as his father, Val Horsa, of South Salem. He said his stepmother, Taew Horsa, a native of Thailand, also was on board the 1971 Beechcraft Bonanza.
He said his father and stepmother are fixtures at the Bangkok Thai Restaurant in Danbury, which they have owned since 1996.
The plane lost radar contact as it approached Danbury Airport about 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Eric Horsa, Val Horsa's only child, said the couple been on a short pleasure trip to Mississippi. They left on Sunday and were due to return back Thursday afternoon.
He said his father was an experienced pilot who had been flying since 1985, flying as far as the Bahamas on trips. He said his father wasn't the type to fly in particularly hazardous weather conditions, and was experienced dealing with a variety of weather, so he speculated something mechanical may have gone wrong with the plane.
"He was a great guy. Everybody loved him," Eric Horsa said. He said his father was "hard but fair" and "still had many good years left."
He called Taew Horsa a "wonderful woman" and said she treated him like he was her own son.
FlightAware, an online tracking service, said the plane had traveled from Danbury through Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky on Sunday before arriving that afternoon in Tunica, Mississippi — a town in the northwest part of the state known for its casinos. It left Tunica Thursday, stopping at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport in Williamstown, West Virginia, for about half an hour before leaving for Danbury at 1:25 p.m. It had been due in to Danbury shortly before 4 p.m.
Mike Safranek, operations manager at the airport, said that the agency that coordinates air traffic in the greater New York City area handed the flight's tracking over to Danbury at about 3:45 p.m., but Danbury's tower never made contact with the plane after that and it never entered the airport's airspace.
When the plane failed to arrive, the airport immediately notified local emergency responders and then the Federal Aviation Administration, he said. The subsequent investigation determined the plane had last been on radar about 8.3 miles out from the airport, across the state line in the vicinity of the Titicus Reservoir.
That triggered a search by New York authorities that began in the rain and fog Thursday night.
Lt. Bill Flynn of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection was among the searchers out late Thursday night into Friday morning. At least four search boats and divers scoured the reservoir before the search was suspended shortly after 1 a.m. due to weather conditions. It resumed Friday morning.
Officials first spotted an oil sheen in the middle of the waterway Friday, then found the seat and wheels, and later additional small pieces of debris, according to DEP spokesman Adam Bosch. The tires were found south of the sheen, he said, while other debris was found to the north.
At 3:30 p.m. he told reporters that searchers had located "human remains," as well as a laptop and clothing from the plane. Representatives of the Westchester Medical Examiner's office were responding to the scene.
The reservoir is about 70 feet deep in the search area, he said.
Divers from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and New York State Police were using sonar Friday as part of their search for the wreckage. State Police said the response also included the Croton Falls Fire Department, Yorktown Heights Fire Department, and the Civil Air Patrol.
Bosch said the search would end at sundown Friday and resume Saturday. Once the plane is located and recovered, he said, the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to send representatives to investigate the circumstances of the crash.
Safranek, at the Danbury Airport, said the gloomy weather conditions Thursday had led to a requirement pilots travel under instrument flight rules.
"Some people are comfortable flying in those conditions," he said. "Some people, when it gets that bad out, would rather not go out."
Story, video and photo gallery: http://www.lohud.com
Adam Bosch, spokesman for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, speaks about debris found from a plane in Titicus Reservoir in North Salem.
But their four-day visit to Mississippi this week might have been their last.
NORTH SALEM, N.Y. — A plane enthusiast, Val Horsa often took short, spontaneous trips with his wife to take a break from running their popular Thai restaurant in Danbury.
The couple’s son, Eric Horsa, believes his parents, Val Horsa and Taew Robinson, were on board a small plane that went missing Thursday in the area of a Westchester County reservoir on its way to Danbury Airport.
Although officials have not yet identified the human remains and plane debris found Friday in the Titicus Resevoir in North Salem, Eric Horsa said his father and stepmother are likely the victims.
Eric Horsa said his father has been flying for about 30 years.
Val Horsa and Taew Robinson, of South Salem, have owned Bangkok Restaurant for just as long, Eric Horsa said. According to its website, Bangkok Restaurant was the first Thai eatery in Connecticut when it opened in 1986. Taew Robinson, who was born in Thailand, was the restaurant’s main chef.
The couple left Danbury Monday for a short trip to Mississippi.
Eric Horsa became concerned Friday morning when he heard about a missing plane in the reservoir area. He tried calling his parents and someone caring for their home who said the couple hadn’t yet returned.
The couple were returning to Danbury Airport when the plane was lost from radar just south of the reservoir about 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Search teams on Friday recovered a seat, wheels and some personal belongings they say likely came from the missing Beech F33A Bonanza.
Phouvieng Chanla, who has worked at the Bangkok Restaurant since she was a young girl and thought of Horsa and Robinson as “parents,” said the couple went to Mississippi to celebrate Taew’s birthday.
Chanla said she often flew with them, going on vacations with the family. She said Horsa was an “excellent pilot.”
“They liked to have fun,” said Chanla, who has worked at the restaurant since 1989. “Taew was very funny, and a great cook. I remember when the restaurant got its four-star rating. We were the only Thai restaurant in Connecticut at the time.”
Panjavist Wangjalsook is the assistant chef at the restaurant and has worked alongside Taew for 10 years. He also lived with the couple in their South Salem home.
“Taew did everything, had her hand in every dish,” Wangjalsook said. “I spoke with her Wednesday evening and she said ‘See you tomorrow.’”
Wangjalsook said police came to the couple’s home about 9 p.m. Thursday night.
“They asked me about Val and Taew’s plans,” he said Friday. “When they were due back. We had closed the restaurant while they were gone. We were going to reopen today, but of course, we didn’t.”
Adam Bosch, a spokesman for the New York Department of Environmental Protection, said authorities in helicopters spotted an oil sheen in the Titicus Resevoir Friday morning leading to the discovery of the seat and wheels that he said were “consistent” with a small plane.
The Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office is examining the human remains, Bosch said. Also found in the water were some clothing, a laptop bag and small parts of an airplane.
Police, helicopters, divers and local fire departments combed the area Thursday until calling off the search about 1 a.m. Friday due to rain and fog.
The search resumed all day Friday and is expected to continue Saturday.
The Croton Falls Fire Department, Yorktown Heights Fire Department, Civil Air Patrol and New York State Police aviation also assisted in the search.
Danbury Airport Administrator Paul Estefan said he’s monitoring the search, but the airport is not involved in the operation.
Source: http://www.newstimes.com
A DEP Police aviation unit conducts a search for a missing plane in Titicus Reservoir in North Salem Nov 20, 2015. The plane was on its way to Danbury Airport when it went missing.
The DEP Police command post near the dam at Titicus Reservoir in North Salem during the search for the missing plane Nov 20, 2015
Adam Bosch, spokesman for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
Eric Horsa watches from the shores of Titicus Reservoir in North Salem as rescue workers resume their search for a plane piloted by his father Val Horsa Nov 20, 2015. The plane went missing late Thursday afternoon.
Eric Horsa, of Ridgefield, comforts his wife, Portia, Friday morning as authorities search the Titicus Reservoir in North Salem, N.Y., for a plane that went missing while approaching the Danbury Municipal Airport on Thursday afternoon. Eric Horsa identified the pilot and passenger of the plane as his father, Val Horsa, and his step-mother, Taew.
Very sad news. They were beautiful people and had a great restaurant - will miss them dearly.
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