- Date
- January 5, 1982, 07:49 local (12:49 UTC)
- Place
- Ithaca, NY
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N546BAPiper PA-31
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 5, 1983
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- FAA report
- 19820105001919A
- Case key
- 71159
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The acft was on a scheduled commuter flt from utica, NY to Washington, DC with a stop at Ithaca, NY. The en route portion of the flt from utica to Ithaca was normal. At 0735 EST, the acft was at 6000 ft MSL when apch control informed the aircrew to expect an ILS apch to rwy 32 at Ithaca. At 0739, an emerg was declared concerning a split flap cond with 1 flap dwn. Drg the next 5 min, the crew retained control of the acft while dscndg from aprx 2500 to 1900 ft. at 0744:40, the crew rprtd on the localizer course at 9 mi from the arpt, then rprtd maintaining control with full rgt aileron. Shortly after rprtg the gnd in sight, the plane crashed & burned in a wooded area, 6.7 mi from the arpt. It descended thru the trees in an 80 to 90 deg l bank, aprx 24 deg nose dwn. Fnd r flap 34 deg dwn & l flap up. The inboardfemale spline component of the l flap flex cable was worn & the male fitting would rotate within. Car 3.339 reqd a mechanical flap interconnect when acft can not be controlled w split flaps. Mod low alt turbc & low lvl wnd shear enctrd
Aircraft
- Registration
- N546BA
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31409
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-A2C, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Empire Airlines
- Registered owner
- Empire Airlines
- Departed
- C · Utica, NY
- Destination
- C · Washington, DC
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- Tompkins County, runway 32, 5,001 × 150 ft
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 26
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 3,300 total · 728 in this make and model · 265 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 20 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft overcast
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.