# Accident 20030808030499A: Piper PA32300, Factoryville, PA, August 8, 2003

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 8, 2003, 08:00 local time
- Place: Factoryville, PA
- Airport: Seamans Field Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: In Traffic Pattern-Circling
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 41.5911° N, 75.7511° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=41.5911&lon=-75.7511&mi=10
- Aircraft: N6373C, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N6373C-2006-04-04) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-32-300 (registry code 7103212, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-32-300) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming IO-540 series (registry code 41530, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-540-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA32300
- Reported engine: LYC IO540K1D5
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 2
- Pilot flight hours: 445 total, 30 in this make and model
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB IAD03FA070](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD03FA070) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20030808030499A

## Narrative

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

(-23) DURING A VOR-A APPROACH TO SEAMAN'S AIRPORT IN FACTORYVILLE, PA, THE AIRCRAFT DESCENDED AND HIT TREES ON WHAT APPEARED TO BE A RIGHT DOWNWIND LEG FOR RUNWAY 22. WITNESSES PRESENT AT THE AIRPORT AT THE TIME STATED THE VISIBILITY WAS APPROXIMATELY 50 TO 100 FEET IN MIST AND FOG. BOTH THE PILOT AND HIS PASSENGER SUSTAINED FATAL INJURIES, THERE WAS NO POST CRASH FIRE, AND THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED.

## 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 IAD03FA070](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD03FA070), Aug 8, 2003: Piper PA-32-300 (N6373C), Factoryville, PA, destroyed, 2 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's improper in-flight decision to descend below the published minimum descent altitude while executing a non-precision approach in instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in…

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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