19990312016879I

Incident

FAA incident report · Piper PA-23-250 · Philipsburg, PA · March 12, 1999

Date
March 12, 1999 · 19:53 local
Place
Philipsburg, PA
Airport
Mid State Airport
Phase of flight
Fcd/Prec Ldg From Cruise
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Aircraft
N713VS
Reported as
Piper PA23250
Reported engine
Lycoming IO540C4B5
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
800 total50 in this make and model20 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

(-5)Pilot planned non-stop IFR flight from rdu to roc with sufficient fuel reserve. Actual enroute winds aloft were greater than forecast. Headwind increased total trip time and fuel requirements. Pilot elected to make a precautionary landing at psb before fuel and nightfall became and issue. Landing was accomplished without further incident. Pilot was not aware that psb runways were NOTAM closed, due to snow, until after landing. Pilot stated that the center area of runway was in fact plowed at time of landing. Some patchy ice was present but not a factor.

As the FAA filed it

(-5)PILOT PLANNED NON-STOP IFR FLIGHT FROM RDU TO ROC WITH SUFFICIENT FUEL RESERVE. ACTUAL ENROUTE WINDS ALOFT WERE GREATER THAN FORECAST. HEADWIND INCREASED TOTAL TRIP TIME AND FUEL REQUIREMENTS. PILOT ELECTED TO MAKE A PRECAUTIONARY LANDING AT PSB BEFORE FUEL AND NIGHTFALL BECAME AND ISSUE.LANDING WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. PILOT WAS NOT AWARE THAT PSB RUNWAYS WERE NOTAM CLOSED, DUE TO SNOW, UNTIL AFTER LANDING. PILOT STATED THAT THE CENTER AREA OF RUNWAY WAS IN FACT PLOWED AT TIME OF LANDING. SOME PATCHY ICE WAS PRESENT BUT NOT A FACTOR.