— 19 Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Pennsylvania.

— 19 NTSB. AAB. Executive Airlines, Bear Creek Township, PA, May 21, 2000.

— 19 The Record, Doylestown, PA. “Charter Plane Crash Kills 19.” 5-22-2000, p. 1.

Narrative Information

NTSB: “On May 21, 2000, about 1128 eastern daylight time (EDT), a British Aerospace Jetstream 3101, N16EJ, operated by East Coast Aviation Services (doing business as Executive Airlines) crashed about 11 miles south of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a postcrash fire, and 17 passengers and two flight crewmembers were killed. The flight was being conducted… as an on-demand charter flight for Caesar’s Palace Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. An instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed for the flight from Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) to AVP.

“The captain checked in for duty about 0800 at Republic Airport (FRG) in Farmingdale, New York, on the day of the accident. The airplane was originally scheduled to depart FRG at 0900 for ACY [Atlantic City] and to remain in ACY until 1900, when it was scheduled to return to FRG [Farmingdale, NY]. While the pilots were conducting preflight inspections, they received a telephone call from Executive Airlines’ owner and chief executive officer (CEO) advising them that they had been assigned an additional flight from ACY [Atlantic City] to AVP [Wilkes-Barre] with a return flight to ACY later in the day, instead of the scheduled break in ACY.

“Fuel records at FRG [Farmingdale] indicated that 90 gallons of fuel were added to the accident airplane’s tanks before departure to ACY [Atlantic City]. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control (ATC) records, the flight departed at 0921 (with 12 passengers on board) and arrived in ACY at 0949. According to passenger statements, the captain was the pilot flying from FRG to ACY. After arrival in ACY, the flight crew checked the weather for AVP [Wilkes-Barre] and filed an IFR flight plan. Fuel facility records at ACY indicated that no additional fuel was added. The accident flight to AVP, which departed ACY about 1030, had been chartered by Caesar’s Palace….

“According to ATC transcripts, the pilots first contacted AVP approach controllers at 1057 and were vectored for an instrument landing system…approach to runway 4. The flight was cleared for approach at 1102:07, and the approach controller advised the pilots that they were 5 nautical miles…from Crystal Lake…The pilots were told to maintain 4,000 feet…At 1104:16…the pilots were instructed to contact the AVP local (tower) controller at 1105:09, which they did 3 seconds later. The airplane then descended to about 2,200 feet, flew level at 2,200 feet for about 20 seconds, and began to climb again about 2.2 nm from the runway threshold when a missed approach was executed…

“At 1107:26 the captain reported executing the missed approach but provided no explanation to air traffic controllers. The tower controller…instructed the accident flight crew to fly runway heading, climb to 4,000 feet, and contact approach… The pilots reestablished contact with the approach controllers at 1108:04 as they climbed through 3,500 feet to 4,000 feet and requested another ILS approach to runway 4. The flight was vectored for another ILS approach, and at 1110:07 the approach controller advised the pilots of traffic 2 nm miles away at 5,000 feet. The captain responded that they were in the clouds. At 1014:38, the controller directed the pilots to reduce speed to follow a Cessna 172 on approach to the airport, and the captain responded, “ok we’re slowing.” The flight was cleared for a second approach at 1120:45 and advised to maintain 4,000 feet until the airplane was established on the localizer.

“At 1123:49 the captain transmitted, “for uh one six echo juliet we’d like to declare an emergency.” At 1123:53, the approach controller asked the nature of the problem, and the captain responded, “engine failure.” The approach controller acknowledged the information, informed the pilots that the airplane appeared to be south of the localizer (off course to the right), and asked if they wanted a vector back to the localizer course. The flight crew accepted, and at 1124:10 the controller directed a left turn to heading 010, which the captain acknowledged. At 1124:33, the controller asked for verification that the airplane was turning left. The captain responded, “we’re trying six echo juliet.” At 1124:38, the controller asked if a right turn would be better. The captain asked the controller to “stand by.” At 1125:07, the controller advised the pilots that the minimum vectoring altitude (MVA) in the area was 3,300 feet. At 1125:12, the captain transmitted, “standby for six echo juliet tell them we lost both engines for six echo juliet.” At that time, ATC radar data indicated that the airplane was descending through 3,000 feet.

“The controller immediately issued the weather conditions in the vicinity of the airport and informed the flight crew about the location of nearby highways. At 1126:17, the captain asked, “how’s the altitude look for where we’re at.” The controller responded that he was not showing an altitude readout from the airplane and issued the visibility (2.5 miles) and altimeter setting. At

1126:43, the captain transmitted, “just give us a vector back to the airport please.” The controller

cleared the accident flight to fly heading 340, advised the flight crew that radar contact was lost, and asked the pilots to verify their altitude. The captain responded that they were “level at 2,000.” At 1126:54, the controller again advised the flight crew of the 3,300-foot MVA and suggested a 330° heading to bring the airplane back to the localizer. At 1127:14 the controller asked, “do you have any engines,” and the captain responded that they appeared to have gotten back “the left engine now.” At 1127:23, the controller informed the pilots that he saw them on radar at 2,000 feet and that there was a ridgeline between them and the airport. The captain responded, “that’s us” and “we’re at 2,000 feet over the trees.” The controller instructed the pilots to fly a 360° heading and advised them of high antennas about 2 nm west of their position.

“At 1127:46, the captain transmitted, “we’re losing both engines.” Two seconds later the controller advised that the Pennsylvania Turnpike was right below the airplane and instructed the flight crew to “let me know if you can get your engines back.” There was no further radio contact with the accident airplane. The ATC supervisor initiated emergency notification procedures. A Pennsylvania State Police helicopter located the wreckage about 1236, and emergency rescue units arrived at the accident site about 1306. The accident occurred in daylight instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The location of the accident was 41° 9 minutes, 23 seconds north latitude, 75° 45 minutes, 53 seconds west longitude, about 11 miles south of the airport at an elevation of 1,755 feet msl….

“The airplane wreckage was found on the top of a mountain on the east side of a pipeline clearway on state-owned property. Ground and tree impact marks indicated that the airplane impacted terrain at a steep angle and in an extreme bank angle. Witness marks on the attitude indicator, ground witness marks, airplane crushing, and other damage indicated that the airplane impacted the ground at a 60° nose low attitude and in a 135° left bank. Ground scars indicated that the airplane impacted the ground on a 40° heading. All of the airplane’s primary structure was located at the accident site. All recovered primary and secondary flight control surfaces were

found at the accident site… fire damage was confined to the immediate impact area, with little fire damage to surrounding trees and foliage.

“The fuselage structure was found upright, in two major pieces, oriented on a 220° heading, with the right outboard wing folded up at a 90° angle. There was no evidence of inflight fire… All heat damage and postcrash fire signatures were in the vertical direction. The cockpit area was destroyed by impact and mostly consumed by the postcrash fire. The flight instruments, engine instruments and flight controls sustained severe fire damage. The cockpit roof switch panel was consumed by fire. The cockpit area had impact crushing damage from the rudder pedals through the instrument panel. All parts of the flight control system that were recovered were heat damaged and fragmented….

“The accident was not survivable because of high impact forces. Autopsies determined that the passengers and flight crew died of blunt force trauma….

“Statements from the carrier’s owner and the first officer’s fiancée [who flew the first leg] and information from the weight and balance form completed by the accident crew suggest that the flight crew planned to add a total of 180 gallons to the airplane. If the flight crew intended to load 180 gallons (about 1,200 pounds), it was common industry and company practice to ask for 90 gallons on each side. However, based on the evidence, it appears that a lack of clear communication between the pilots and the fueler resulted in only 90 gallons (about 600 pounds) of fuel being added, a total amount confirmed by the fuel order receipt. Further, it is likely that the flight crew did not confirm the amount of fuel loaded before departure because flight crews do not see the fuel receipts after fueling and because the pilots were not outside the airplane monitoring the fuel loading.

“The accident flight crew completed a load manifest that stated that the airplane was loaded with 2,400 pounds of fuel when it departed from FRG, and it is probable that the accident flight crew planned to depart from FRG with 2,400 pounds. Based on the airplane’s performance, 2,400 pounds of fuel would have been sufficient fuel to fly the two flights without adding fuel during the stop at ACY. This would have allowed a takeoff from ACY that was within normal weight and balance limits for the airplane with 17 passengers on board. There was no evidence that the flight crew asked for additional fuel to be added during the stop at ACY.

“However, based on the Safety Board’s calculations, it appears that the accident airplane departed FRG with about 1,600 pounds of fuel on board, which is 800 pounds less than listed on the load manifest. Therefore, the Safety Board concludes that the accident airplane departed FRG with less fuel than the pilots thought they had on board….

“It is possible that the pilots’ belief that they had sufficient fuel on board for the flight to AVP caused them to be less vigilant in their monitoring of the airplane’s fuel state and slower to consider a low fuel state as the cause of the initial engine failure. Although low fuel quantity annunciator lights for each tank illuminate on the forward instrument panel when the fuel quantity decreases below 200 pounds, Safety Board investigators determined in simulations that these annunciator lights were easily overlooked, even when illuminated….

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flight crew’s failure to ensure an adequate fuel supply for the flight, which led to the stoppage of the right engine due to fuel exhaustion and the intermittent stoppage of the left engine due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident were the flight crew’s failure to monitor the airplane’s fuel state and the flight crew’s failure to maintain directional control after the initial engine stoppage.” (NTSB. AAB. Executive Airlines, Bear Creek Township, PA, May 21, 2000.)

The Record: “Wilkes-Barre – A charter plane carrying 19 people from a gambling trip to Atlantic City, N.J., crashed in a ball of fire after experiencing engine problems Sunday as it approached the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, killing all aboard.

“Burned and twisted wreckage was scattered across a small heavily wooded area, about 9 miles south of the airport in northeastern Pennsylvania and about 90 miles north of Philadelphia. “The weather was bad, it was windy and there was some precipitation. The visibility was poor,” Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Tammy Jones said.

“The pilots told air traffic controllers before the twin-engine turbo prop crashed that they were experiencing trouble.

“The plane’s cockpit voice recorder was recovered from the crash site, George Black of the National Transportation Safety Board said. “It missed its first approach and was attempting a second approach when the accident occurred,” Black said before he left Washington, D.C., for the accident site. “There is some indication on the air traffic control tapes that they were encountering engine problems during the first approach and those continued into the second attempt.”

“Emergency crews began searching along the planned flight path of the plane as soon as they were notified shortly after 11:30 a.m. that it would not reach the airport, said Luzerne County 911 spokesman Ron Rome.

“Megan Maguire was outside gardening at her home near the airport on the northern rim of the Pocono Mountains shortly before noon Sunday when she heard a plane apparently having problems. “I heard the engines die, then I heard them start up again, and then they just died. I heard it rev up twice, so it died twice,” said Maguire, who often hears planes pass overhead as they prepare to land at the airport.

“Wreckage was spotted in a wooded area in Bear Creek Township about 12:45 p.m., Rome said.

Nearly 10 hours after the 11:48 a.m. crash, John Comey, executive assistant director for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, said the 17 passengers and two pilots had been killed….

“Anthony J. Giannone, airport ground superintendent, had to console a friend whose wife was on the plane. ‘He’s got two small children and he had to leave here to tell them,’ Giannone said. “It’s a small, close community, and that’s what I think makes it so hard,” said Lackawanna County Commissioner Randy Castellani, who arrived soon after the crash.

“Gowell [W-B Airport Assistant Director] said the group had left at 5 p.m. Saturday on a flight chartered by Caesars Atlantic City Hotel Casino. They were to return at 1:15 a.m. but fog kept the plane grounded in Farmingdale, N.Y., said Peter Hartt, spokesman for the South Jersey Transportation Authority. “They came out to get in the cars, and the junket representative came out and said the flight was canceled due to the weather,” said Bob Feldgus, 65, a limousine driver hired to take the group from Caesars to the airport, about 12 miles west of the city. As a result, the victims spent the night at the casino….

“Hartt, whose agency operates the Atlantic City Airport, said the Executive Airlines plane departed the city about 10:30 a.m. and was scheduled to land in Wilkes-Barre an hour later. Hartt said the airline typically runs casino charters. Executive Airlines officials declined to comment.

“The BA-31 Jetstream disappeared off radar during a second instrument approach about 11:40 a.m., Jones said. In general, an instrument approach is performed if the visibility is poor or if there are low clouds…” (The Record, Doylestown PA. “Charter…Crash Kills 19.” 5-22-2000, 1)

Sources

Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Pennsylvania. Accessed 3-11-2009 at: http://www.baaa-acro.com/Pays/Etats-Unis/Pennsylvanie.htm

National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Brief. Executive Airlines, Bear Creek Township, PA, May 21, 2000 (Accident No.: DCA00MA052). Washington, DC: NTSB, August 26, 2002, 34 pages. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAB02-05.pdf

The Record, Doylestown, PA. “Charter Plane Crash Kills 19.” 5-22-2000, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=27087040

2000 — May 21, Charter Plane Crash (Low Fuel), Executive Air, near Wilkes Barre, PA–19