Cessna 402C N121PB

Summary

On 1 February 2010 at about 20:12 local time, a Cessna 402C registered N121PB, operated by Hyannis Air Leasing Inc, was involved in an accident near Watertown, New York, United States. 7 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 February 2010 at 20:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Watertown, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Watertown International (ART)

Coordinates

43.9883, -76.0197

Aircraft

Cessna 402C

Registration

N121PB

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Hyannis Air Leasing Inc

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Albany → Watertown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA10LA128

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's decision to continue the approach with a known anomaly with the left airspeed indicator. Contributing to the accident was an undetermined malfunction of the left airspeed indicator and the condition of the runway, resulting in decreased braking capability.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the scheduled passenger flight was conducting a visual approach to runway 25 at the destination airport in marginal visual meteorological conditions. As the airplane descended to the traffic pattern, the pilot noticed the airspeed decrease from 145 knots to 85 knots. The pilot applied full power but did not observe an increase in airspeed. He elected to continue the approach and, due to weather conditions, joined the traffic pattern for runway 7. It is likely that the pilot felt pressure to complete the flight due to the deteriorating weather conditions, rather than taking time to identify and correct the anomaly or to attempt to cross-reference with other instruments. When the pilot deployed the wing flaps and extended the landing gear, he noted that the airplane felt as though it was traveling faster than its indicated airspeed. The airplane touched down approximately 1,000 feet past the runway threshold and bounced. The pilot attempted to apply brakes, but reported that the braking action was "nil" due to runway contamination. The airplane continued down the runway, departed the paved surface, and came to rest 366 feet past the runway’s end. Postaccident testing revealed that the pitot tubes were warm to the touch when the pitot heat switch was turned on. Unregulated air pressure was applied to the right pitot tube and to the left pitot line downstream of the tube. The corresponding airspeed indicators displayed needle movement with no leaks detected. Since no further examination of the pitot-static system was conducted, the cause of the airspeed anomaly could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.