# Accident 19990912026232A: Cessna 337C, North Adams, MA, September 12, 1999

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 12, 1999, 13:29 local time
- Place: North Adams, MA
- Airport: Harriman-And-West Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Collision: Midair collision, second aircraft
- Phase of flight: Formation Flying
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 42.6963° N, 73.1706° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at HARRIMAN-AND-WEST (AQW), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=42.6963&lon=-73.1706&mi=10
- Aircraft: N973FS, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N973FS-2000-05-24) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 337C (registry code 2075712, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-337c) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 337C
- Reported engine: CONT IO360*
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 1,750 total
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB NYC99FA222](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC99FA222) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990912026232A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(.19) ON SEPTEMBER 12, 1999, AT 1329 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME, A MID-AIR COLLISION OCCURRED BETWEEN A CESSNA 337C, N973FS, AND A CESSNA 305C, N3255P, WHILE CONDUCTING FLYBYS AT AN AIRSHOW AT HARRIMAN AND WEST AIRPORT (AQW), NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS. BOTH AIRPLANES WERE DESTROYED. THE CERTIFICATED COMMERCIAL PILOT IN N973FS, AND THE CERTIFICATED PRIVATE PILOT IN N3255P WERE FATALLY INJURED. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED FOR THE FLIGHT THAT HAD DEPARTED FROM AQW. NO FLIGHT PLAN HAD BEEN FILED FOR THE FLIGHT WHICH WAS CONDUCTED ON A WAIVER UNDER 14 CFR PART 91. (-23) ACCORDING TO WITNESSES THE PILOT WAS PERFORMING A FLY BY AT 500 FEET AGL AT THE NORTH ADAMS AIRSHOW, WHEN HIS AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH ANOTHER AIRCRAFT WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FLYING AT 200 FEET AGL.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   .4)THREE AIRPLANES WERE MAKING FLY-BYS AT AN AIRSHOW. THE PILOTS WERE BRI EFED TO PREPARE FOR MULTIPLE PASSES.  THE FASTER AIRPLANE, A CESSNA 337 WAS ASSIGNED A MINIMUM ALTITUDE OF 500 FEET AGL, WHILE THE TWO SLOWER AIRPLANES, A PIPER J3C-65, FOLLOWED BY CESSNA 305 WERE RESTRICTED FROM CLIMBING ABOVE 200 FEET AGL.  AFTER THE CESSNA 337 MADE ONE FLY-BY, THE PIPER AND CESSNA 305 FLEW BY SHOW-CENTER.  PASSING SHOW-CENTER, THE PIPER REMAINED BELOW 200 FEET AGL.  HOWEVER, THE CESSNA 305 INITIATED A CLIMB AS THE CESSNA 337 RETURNED TOWARD SHOW-CENTER FOR HIS SECOND PASS.  WITNESSES REPORTED THE AIRBOSS ADVISED THE PILOT OF THE CESSNA 337 THAT THE CESSNA 305 WAS CLIMBING.  THE DOWNWARD VISIBILITY OVER THE NOSE OF THE CESSNA 337 RESTRICTED THE PILOT FROM SEEING THE CESSNA 305 UNTIL IT APPEARED IN FRONT OF HIM.  AT THE TIME OF THE COLLISION, THE CESSNA 337 WAS MANEUVERING TO THE RIGHT AND DESCENDING.  THE CESSNA 305 WAS IN A WINGS LEVEL CLIMB STRAIGHT AHEAD.

## Other aircraft in the event

- N3255P, Cessna L19E: [Accident 19990912026231A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990912026231A)

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB NYC99FA222](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC99FA222), Sep 12, 1999: Cessna 337C (N973FS), North Adams, MA, destroyed, 2 fatal. Probable cause: the failure of the pilot of the Cessna 305 to follow the instructions issued, and maintain a low altitude. A factor was the delay in evasive action by the pilot of the Cessna 337 after he was first…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft 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. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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