Pilatus PC-12/45 N770G

Summary

On 26 March 2005 at about 18:48 local time, a Pilatus PC-12/45 registered N770G, operated by Jeffrey M. Jacober, was involved in an accident near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, United States. 6 people were on board and 6 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 March 2005 at 18:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, United States

Nearest airport

University Park Airport (UNV)

Coordinates

40.8789, -77.7772

Aircraft

Pilatus PC-12/45

Registration

N770G

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Jeffrey M. Jacober

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Naples → State College

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD05FA047

6 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed to avoid a stall during an instrument final approach to land, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. Factors associated with the accident are the inadvertent stall/spin, the pilot's failure to follow procedures/directives, and clouds.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.