FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

NYC82FGM10 · Beech E55

6 Apr 1982 · SCANDIA, PA, United States

Control Chief Beech E55 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure en route

From Bradford, PA to Alton, IL

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
NYC82FGM10
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
2 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Instrument Meteorological Cond

Beech E55

Aircraft type
Beechcraft 55
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N4375A
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Bradford, PATo Alton, IL
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
En route · climb to cruise
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Airframe, component or system failure
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Spatial disorientation
  • Pneumatic system › Failure, total

Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Scandia, PA, the place the record names. Not the accident site.

NTSB narrative

AT 0834 EST, THE PILOT DEPARTED BRADFORD AIRPORT ON AN IFR FLIGHT TO ALTON, IL. ABOUT 4 MINUTES LATER, HE ADVISED THAT HE WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH HIS FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS WHILE IN IFR CONDITIONS. HE ATTEMPTED TO RETURN TO THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT BY USING D.F. STEERS, BUT WAS UNABLE. HE THEN CONTACTED CLEVELAND CENTER AND WAS CLEARED TO CLIMB TO 8000 FT MSL. THE CENTER RECOMMENDED THAT THE PILOT PROCEED TO TORONTO, CANADA TO THE NEAREST AIRPORT WITH ACCEPTABLE WEATHER. HOWEVER, THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL HIS ALTITUDE AND HEADING, AND SUBSEQUENTLY, ENTERED A DIVE AND CRASHED. THE HSI (ATTITUDE INDICATOR), DIRECTIONAL GYRO AND TURN COORDINATOR WERE FOUND TO BE PNEUMATIC PRESSURE INSTRUMENTS, ALL OPERATING FROM THE SAME SYSTEM. THE PNEUMATIC PRESSURE SYSTEM INCORPORATED TWO PRESSUE PUMPS, ONE ON EACH ENGINE. AN INSPECTION OF THE PUMPS REVEALED THAT BOTH PUMP DRIVES WERE SHEARED. RAIDO CALLS FROM THE PILOT HAD IDENTIFIED THAT ALL PRESSURE INSTRUMENT READINGS WERE FAULTY. WEATHER: TURBC, LOW CIG, SNOW.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record NYC82FGM10
Event ID
20020917X02549
Case number
NYC82FGM10
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 9fa68289794f8074293eb1ca9aad235261188a881d8e55c532899a9df5895981; retrieved 2026-09-21T08:33:06.750Z.