Pilatus PC-12/45 accident near Burlington, NC
On January 16, 2013, a Pilatus PC-12/45 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Burlington, NC. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- January 16, 2013
- Place
- Burlington, NC
- Aircraft
- Pilatus PC-12/45 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 36.114°N, 79.421°W
- NTSB ID
- 20130116X83524
Official records · ERA13FA115
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- ATC 3 - Air Traffic Control Specialist's Report: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC 3 - NTSB-Extracted Target Data: Document (TXT), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On January 16, 2013, about 0556 eastern standard time, a Pilatus PC-12/45, N68PK, operated by LabCorp, Inc., as Skylab 53 (SKQ53), was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain shortly after takeoff from Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport (BUY), Burlington, North Carolina. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed for the flight destined for the Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU), Morristown, New Jersey. The corporate flight was transporting medical specimens and was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Review of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control (ATC) audio data revealed that at 0541, the pilot contacted Greensboro (GSO) clearance delivery, while on the ground at BUY, and requested an IFR clearance to MMU. The pilot was advised that there was no flight plan stored in the ATC system. His original flight plan had a proposed departure time of 0315 and the flight plan was only good for 2 hours. The pilot subsequently requested to file an IFR flight plan and provided the routing details. At 0550, GSO ATC provided an IFR clearance to SKQ53 from BUY to MMU, which included an initial altitude of 3,000 feet. ATC subsequently provided a transponder code of 2531, an altimeter setting of 30.01, an initial vector of a left turn to 360 degrees after takeoff, and a clearance void time of 0600, at 0551:30. The pilot acknowledged, read back the assigned transponder code as 2501, and stated
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control due to spatial disorientation during the initial climb after takeoff in night instrument flight rules conditions.
More accidents in NC
- Douglas DC-9-31, Jul 2, 1994
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Browse: North Carolina · Pilatus aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
