# Accident 20111220028889A: Socata TBM 700, Morristown, NJ, December 20, 2011

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 20, 2011, 10:00 local time
- Place: Morristown, NJ
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Takeoff: Climb Out
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 40.7764° N, 74.4764° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.7764&lon=-74.4764&mi=10
- Aircraft: N731CA, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N731CA-2012-08-22) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Socata TBM 700 (registry code 8682000, https://openairdocs.org/model/socata-tbm-700) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-64 (registry code 52070, https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-canada-pt6a-64) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: SOCATA TBM 700
- Reported engine: P&W CANADA PT6A-64
- People aboard: 5
- Fatal injuries: 5
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Private pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 1,400 total, 724 in this make and model
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ERA12FA115](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA12FA115) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20111220028889A

## Narrative

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

ON 12/20/2011, AFTER DEPARTING TEB, WITH AIRCRAFT AT OR NEAR 8200', PILOT WAS NOTIFIED BY ATC OF MODERATE RIME ICE BETWEEN 14,000' TO 17,000'.PILOT AKNOWLEDGED, WOULD ADVISE, AND SAID THEY WOULD GO STRAIGHT THRU. EVIDENTLY THE AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERED ICING CONDITIONS AND SHORTLY AFTER, AIRCRAFT BEGAN RAPID DESCENT. AIRCRAFT, AS SEEN BY WITNESSES, APPEARED TO BE IN A SPIRAL WHICH REVERSED DIRECTION BEFORE IMPACTING THE GROUND. COMPONENTS OF THE AIRCRAFT, PARTIAL RIGHT WING, HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL STABILIZER WERE LOCATED APPROXIMATELY ONE HALF MILE FROM IMPACT SITE. SEVERAL AIRLINERS FLYING IN THE SAME AREA AT THAT TIME REPORTED MODERATE TO HEAVY RIME ICING JUST PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. AFTER ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE AIRFRAME, PROP AND PITOT ONE AND PITOT TWO DE-ICE SWITCHES WERE IN THE ON POSITION, HOWEVER, IT CAN NOT BE DETERMINED WHEN THE SYSTEM WAS TURNED ON.

## 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 ERA12FA115](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA12FA115), Dec 20, 2011: Socata TBM 700 (N731CA), Morristown, NJ, destroyed, 5 fatal. Probable cause: The airplane’s encounter with unforecasted severe icing conditions that were characterized by high ice accretion rates and the pilot's failure to use his command authority to depart the icing…

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.