IAD05FA047

The accident airplane was on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to land, when witnesses reported seeing it spinning in a nose down, near vertical attitude before it collided with the ground. The accident site was about 3 miles from the approach end of the intended runway. A review of radar data disclosed that the private pilot had difficulty maintaining altitude and airspeed while on final approach, with significant excursions above and below the glidepath, as well as large variations in airspeed. Interviews with other pilots in the area just prior to and after the accident revealed that icing conditions existed in clouds near the airport, although first responders to the accident site indicated that there was no ice on the airplane. Postaccident inspection of the airplane, its engine and flight navigation systems, discovered no evidence of preimpact anomalies. An analysis of the airplane's navigation system's light bulbs, suggests that the pilot had selected the GPS mode for the initial approach, but had not switched to the proper instrument approach mode to allow the autopilot to lock onto the ILS.

History of flight

On March 26, 2005, at 1348 eastern standard time, a Pilatus PC-12/45, N770G, was destroyed when it impacted the ground near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. The certificated private pilot and five passengers were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the accident site; however, instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the altitude where the accident sequence began. The airplane was operating on an instrument flight rules flight plan, and departed Naples Municipal Airport (APF), Naples, Florida, about 0953, destined for University Park Airport (UNV), State College, Pennsylvania. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to representatives of the two families onboard, the airplane was en route to State College so family members could watch a son's lacrosse game. The families then intended to return home to the Providence, Rhode Island area.

A review of voice communications and radar data indicated that the airplane was inbound on the RWY 24 ILS instrument approach, when, at 1345, the pilot was advised by the New York Center controller that he could change from the New York Center radio frequency, to the University Park common traffic advisory frequency. After the pilot acknowledged the advisory, there were no further transmissions from him. The last radar return, at 1348, indicated the airplane was about 3,500 feet, 3 nautical miles from the runway and 2 nautical miles inside PENUE LOM, the final approach fix for the localizer instrument approach.

Near the accident site, a witness saw the airplane flying overhead. His attention had been drawn to it due to the amount of time it had been there. He looked up and saw the airplane "banking steeply" before it started "spiraling down" in a "counter-clockwise," nose low, left turn. The wings were "almost straight up and down," and the airplane made "8-10 circles" before briefly recovering. The witness then saw the airplane "gain slight control" before it disappeared behind a tree line.

Several other witnesses were interviewed by Pennsylvania State Police officers. One witness reported seeing the airplane over some pine trees, near a new correctional facility. "Its right wing was up and then it went nose down to the ground after doing a counter-clockwise spin." Additional witnesses reported seeing the airplane "with its left wing down and right wing up, doing a spin toward the ground," and "nose down doing approximately three to four slow revolutions to the earth."

Another witness was riding in a vehicle when he heard a "loud whoosh" over his car. The airplane impacted the ground nearby in a nose-down, slightly left bank attitude, and the tail of the airplane "ripped off." The witness rushed from his car to try and help, and did not see any ice on the airplane or on the ground, and did not feel any ice when he was walking on the wing to try to assist the occupants.

An off-duty EMS responder was driving nearby and saw the airplane in an "extreme nosedive," but didn't see it spiraling. He then saw it hit the ground, and rushed to the scene to help. He also noted that there was no ice on the airplane.

An initial responder to the scene was an off-duty Pennsylvania State Police corporal whose primary job with the State Police was vehicular accident reconstruction. The corporal stated that he did not see the accident, but responded to the scene "within seconds" of its occurrence. The corporal noted no ice on the airplane, and photographs he took of it about 15 minutes later revealed no presence of ice.

The Director of Centre County, Office of Emergency Services, also stated that none of his first responders saw ice on the airplane.

The accident occurred during the hours of daylight, in the vicinity of 40 degrees, 52.73 minutes north latitude, 77 degrees, 46.64 minutes west longitude.

Personnel information

The pilot held a private pilot certificate, with airplane single engine land, airplane multi-engine land, and instrument airplane ratings. On his latest Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) third class medical certificate application, dated February 1, 2005, the pilot reported 1,900 hours of total flight time.

According to training records, the pilot completed Pilatus PC-12 initial training at a SimCom training center on March 20, 2003, and completed recurrent training at SimCom on March 8, 2004, and March 22, 2005. On his application for the March 22, 2005, training, the pilot wrote that he had 1,645 total flight hours, 385 instrument flight hours, 250 flight hours in the previous 12 months, and 173 hours of flight time in the PC-12.

Aircraft information

The airplane, serial number 299, was manufactured in 1999, and powered by a Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-67B engine. The airplane was originally registered in France, but subsequently registered to J2W Aviation, LLC, on April 30, 2003. According to a family representative, the LLC was 60 percent owned by the pilot, 20 percent owned by one of the passengers, and 20 percent owned by a third person.

Airplane operating hours were not available at the accident scene. However, according to logbook records, the airplane's latest 100 hour inspection was completed on December 1, 2004, at 1,523 operating hours, and an engine compressor wash was accomplished on March 9, 2005, at 1,612 hours.

The airplane was equipped with inflatable neoprene de-ice boots on the leading edges of the wings and horizontal tail surfaces. According the airplane's Pilot's Information Manual, "the purpose of the [boots] is to inflate and dispense any ice which may accrete on their surface during flight in atmospheric icing conditions." The boots were to be operated by the pilot by moving a switch on the DE-ICING control panel.

According to the airplane's flight manual, section 4.23, "detection of icing conditions and ice accretion on the aircraft is by the pilot visual identification on the left hand wing leading edge." In addition, a representative from Pilatus stated that a pilot could also see ice forming on a 2-inch strip around the windshields where they weren't heated.

Meteorological information

Weather, reported at 1400, at University Park Airport, included winds from 130 degrees true, at 3 knots, overcast skies at 1,700 feet above the ground, temperature 39 degrees Fahrenheit, dew point 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and an altimeter setting of 30.10 inches Hg. The accident site elevation was about 150 feet lower than the airport elevation.

There were two AIRMETs (weather advisories) in effect. One, issued at 1215, and valid until 1600, called for occasional moderate rime and/or mixed icing in cloud and precipitation between 6,000 feet and 13,000 feet. Another AIRMET, issued at 1405, and valid until 1600, updated the previous advisory and called for occasional moderate rime and/or mixed icing in cloud and precipitation below 13,000 feet, with conditions continuing beyond 1600.

The pilot of a Beech Travel Air landed at University Park Airport at 1332, and reported that he had been inbound at 7,000 feet, then descended to 6,000 feet, encountering clouds about 6,500 feet. At 6,000 feet, the temperature was 22 degrees, and the airplane "started picking up a little ice." The pilot was then told by air traffic control to descend to 4,000 feet. As he descended, the airplane "picked up more ice," which was "mixed, but more clear ice than rime ice." The pilot then held for 10-15 minutes, and picked up a total of 2 - 2 1/2 inches of ice on the leading edges of the wings. The windshield heat was on, and slush ran off the windshield. The pilot noted that the temperature was 27 degrees. He subsequently declared an emergency, and flew the ILS RWY 24 approach. When the airplane cleared the clouds, the ice "immediately started peeling off the airplane;" however, upon landing, there was still some ice on wing leading edges, c