ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 13643
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| Date: | Thursday 24 February 1977 |
| Time: | 09:24 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-31T Cheyenne II |
| Owner/operator: | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania/Dept. of Transportation |
| Registration: | N631PT |
| MSN: | 31T-7720001 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8 |
| Other fatalities: | 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Bressler, PA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Harrisburg-Capital City Airport, PA (HAR/KCXY) |
| St. Marys Municipal Airport, PA (KOYM) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On February 24, 1977, at about 0924 eastern daylight time, a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Piper PA-31T Cheyenne, N731PT, crashed shortly after takeoff from runway 8 at the Capital City Airport, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. The aircraft crashed in a populated area in the town of Bressler, a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. All occupants of the aircraft, six passengers and two pilots, were killed. A woman was also killed when the house in which she lived was destroyed during the crash. Several private and commercial properties were severely damaged. The aircraft was destroyed.
There was no evidence of engine failure or malfunction, the flight crew was properly certified and the pilots had no medical or psychological problems. The accident was not survivable.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the flight crew's failure to insure that the aircraft was loaded properly and that its center of gravity was within certificated limits. As a result, the aircraft's control characteristics were degraded significantly by a center of gravity position well aft of the certificated limits. This imbalance led to the pilot's inability to control a longitudinally unstable aircraft during a climbing turn in instrument meteorological conditions.
Accident investigation:
|
Sources:
1. NTSB Identification: DCA77AA012 at https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=55836&key=0
2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=631PT
3. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR7801.pdf
Images:
Photo(c): NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Feb-2008 12:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 27-Oct-2012 08:33 | harro | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 02-Aug-2017 09:34 | TB | Updated [Time, Operator] |
| 02-Aug-2017 09:35 | TB | Updated [Operator] |
| 06-Aug-2017 18:48 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 07-Sep-2017 20:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 16-Feb-2020 09:55 | harro | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Accident report, ] |
| 06-Mar-2022 17:49 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Narrative, Photo] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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