ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 13579
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| Date: | Friday 2 November 1979 |
| Time: | 11:12 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain |
| Owner/operator: | Bankair Inc |
| Registration: | N66893 |
| MSN: | 31-7405192 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Villa Road/Pleasanburg Drive, Greenville, South Carolina -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Greenville Downtown Airport, Greenville, South Carolina (GMU/KGMU) |
| Columbia Metropolitan Airport, Columbia,South Carolina (CAE/KCAE) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (destroyed) 2 November 1979 when crashed shortly after initial climb out from Greenville Downtown Airport, Greenville, South Carolina. Aircraft suffered partial loss of power in #1 engine, lost altitude whilst attempting to made an emergency landing back at Greenville, collided with overhead wires, and caught fire after impact.
Of the seven persons on board (pilot and six passengers) five (pilot and four passengers) were killed, and the two surviving passengers were seriously injured. The cause of the accident was, according to the official NTSB report into the accident:
"Engine malfunction before best climb out speed. Hit power line during turn back to airport"
According to a contemporary newspaper report ("The Greenville News" November 3, 1979):
"The two-engine Bankair Commuter plane had just taken off from Municipal Airport in the late morning of Nov. 2, 1979, when its left engine began smoking.
Feeling the loss of power, veteran pilot Fred Grunke tried to maneuver it back to the airport, but he clipped a Duke Power electric wire. The plane, on its first commercial flight, was fully loaded, carrying seven passengers to Columbia. It veered suddenly and landed less than a mile from the airport, smashing into the ground in front of the Steak and Ale restaurant at Villa Road and Pleasantburg Drive.
The smouldering Piper Navajo Chieftain bounced once or twice before bursting into flames. Five men, including the pilot, were killed. Two others managed to escape before the fire reached them. The pilot was able to avoid nearby buildings, none of which were involved in the accident. The sparks from the dangling electric wire and the noise of the crash, however, brought hundreds of bystanders to the site and tied up traffic on Pleasantburg Drive for miles. It was the worst airline disaster in Greenville’s history."
NOTE: Aircraft registered to "Southeastern Flight Service" but was being operated by "Bankair Inc" at the time of the accident. First registered May 8 1978 as N66893: registration cancelled by the FAA on April 30 1980
Accident investigation:
|
Sources:
1. NTSB Identification: MIA80FA008 at https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=33753&key=0
2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=66893
3. http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1979/1979-76.htm
4. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1979/archives/crash-of-a-piper-pa-31-navajo-chieftain-in-greenville-5-killed/]
5. http://planecrashmap.com/plane/sc/N66893/
6. https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/greenville-roots/2017/08/30/worst-airline-disaster-greenville-history/614588001/?from=new-cookie
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Feb-2008 12:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 11-May-2015 08:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Sep-2017 16:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Sep-2017 16:40 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 29-Oct-2019 17:58 | Uli Elch | Updated [Aircraft type] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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