- Date
- January 26, 1991, 19:48 local (Jan 27, 1991, 00:48 UTC)
- Place
- Sonestown, PA
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N891GMMBB BK 117 B-1
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910126001099A
- Case key
- 36779
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning to assure that the intended course and altitude provided adequate terrain clearance. Contributing factor(s) was: the dark night, snow and mountainous terrain.
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 medivac helicopter was returning to sayre after transporting a patient to danville. Recorded radar data and data obtained from the helicopter's loran-c memory indicates that the flight was following a direct course from the geisinger medical center at danville to the robert packer hospital at sayre. The acft's HSI was set to display loran course information. The closest point of the course to the crest of north mountain was aprx 3/4 mile to the west. The pilot had advised williamsport ATCT transitting their control zone at 2,500 ft. impact occurred at 2,440 ft MSL. The crest of the ridge is 2,520 ft MSL with 40-FT high trees. A witness who lives in a cabin on the mountain 200 yards from the accident site stated that it was snowing very hard when he arrived at the cabin around 1930.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N891GM
- Reported as
- MBB BK 117 B-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 7153
- Engine
- Lycoming LTS101-650B-1, 650 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Keystone Helicopter Corporatio
- Departed
- Danville, PA
- Destination
- Sayre, PA
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 3,267 total · 287 in this make and model · 2,666 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.