# Incident 20030711017019I: Piper PA31325, State College, PA, July 11, 2003

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: July 11, 2003, 16:08 local time
- Place: State College, PA
- Airport: University Park
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 40.7910° N, 77.8568° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of State College, PA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.7910&lon=-77.8568&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3539S (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA31325
- Reported engine: LYC TIO540*
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 3,670 total, 50 in this make and model, 50 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20030711017019I

## Narrative

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

(-23) DURING CRUISE FLIGHT AT 11000 FT AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERED TURBULENCE AND LOST APPROXIMATELY 450 FT ALTITUDE BEFORE PILOT WAS ABLE TO RECOVER. UPON RECOVERY COPILOT NOTED RIGHT ENGINE AT RED LINE RPM, THERE HAD BEEN NO MOVEMENT OF EITHER ENGINE OR PROP CONTROLS. PILOT ELECTED TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY AND DIVERTED TO AN INTERMEDIATE AIRPORT, SHORT OF DESTINATION. AN UNEVENTFUL LANDING WAS ACCOMPLISHED. PRELIMINARY INCIDENT REPORT INDICATED THAT OCCUPANTS OF AIRCRAFT STRUCK THEIR HEADS DURING ENCOUNTER WITH TURBULENCE. FOLLOW UP INVESTIGATION CONFIRMED THAT THERE WERE NO REPORTABLE INJURIES AND THAT THE AIRCRAFT SUSTAINED NO DAMAGE.

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.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.
