ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 328545
| Date: | Tuesday 24 July 1979 |
| Time: | 19:22 |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH-114 Heron 2D |
| Owner/operator: | Prinair |
| Registration: | N575PR |
| MSN: | 14125 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1957 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 23045 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental IO-520E |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 21 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Saint Croix-Alexander Hamilton Airport (STX) -
 U.S. Virgin Islands
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Saint Croix-Alexander Hamilton Airport (STX/TISX) |
| Saint Kitts-Golden Rock Airport (SKB/TKPK) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft attained a nose-high attitude after takeoff and started to roll left and right. The aircraft pitched down and up and rolled left and right again while losing altitude. The plane struck the ground about 5500 feet from the runway end and 792 feet right of the extended centerline in a right-wing-down attitude. It appeared that the aircraft had been overloaded by 1060 pounds and that the center of gravity (CG) was 8 inches beyond the maximum rear limit.
The exact identity of this aircraft is uncertain. Prinair Heron N563PR which crashed 5 March 1969 killing all 19 on board was quoted by the NTSB report AAR-70-09 as well as Heron production lists to be c/n 14125. Strangely enough NTSB report NTSB-AAR-80-3 also explicitly states the identity of N575PR being c/n 14125. Also, N575PR / c/n 14125 was still current in the FAA aircraft register in 2004. Probably the identity papers of the real c/n 14125 (N563PR) were used together with another airframe. Possibilities: N557PR (c/n 14077) or N565PR (c/n 14116).
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot's loss of control of the aircraft after take-off because of the aircraft's grossly overweight and out-of-balance condition which resulted from misloading by the company's load control personnel. The misloading was due to the failure of the company to supervise and to enforce its loading procedures. The Safety Board also determines that inadequate surveillance and enforcement by the FAA were causal factors in this accident."
Accident investigation:
|
Sources:
NTSB-AAR-80-3
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 5 March 1969 | N563PR | Prinair | 19 | 24 km SE of San Juan |  |
w/o |
Location
Images:
photo (c) Peggy Castle; Saint Croix-Alexander Hamilton Airport (STX); 1976
photo (c) Joseph F. Dolloff; Saint Croix-Alexander Hamilton Airport (STX); 15 March 1973
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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