ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 187689
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| Date: | Friday 27 May 2016 |
| Time: | 19:30 |
| Type: |  Republic P-47D Thunderbolt |
| Owner/operator: | American Airpower Museum |
| Registration: | N1345B |
| MSN: | 44-90447 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1945 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 553 hours |
| Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney R-2800-69 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Hudson River, south of the Edgewater Marina in Edgewater, NJ -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | Farmingdale-Republic Airport, NY (FRG/KFRG) |
| Farmingdale-Republic Airport, NY (FRG/KFRG) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The World War II-era fighter airplane was part of a three-ship formation performing a photo shoot for the Jones Beach Airshow. About 1,000 ft above the water, the pilot of the accident airplane made a distress call to air traffic control, stating that he had "smoke," and he subsequently ditched the airplane. The airplane landed on the water and subsequently sank. Another pilot in the formation reported that the canopy was partially open before the ditching. The pilot was unable to egress the airplane and drowned.
Examination of the engine revealed evidence of internal seizure. Damage to the inside of the crankcase prevented the removal of cylinders and disassembly of the engine. Oil and metallic fragments were found inside the engine's supercharger. Although the supercharger may have failed as the initiating event, the reason for the engine failure could not be determined due to the excessive internal damage to the engine.
Examination of the pilot's seat belt/shoulder harness restraints and canopy operation, including a functional test of the jettison T-handle, did not reveal evidence of any in-flight anomaly or failure. Although the airplane's operating instructions called for the pilot to jettison the canopy before ditching, the pilot did not do so, and was subsequently unable to fully open the canopy and egress the airplane as it sank.
Toxicology testing revealed diphenhydramine, an impairing medication that causes sedation, altered mood, and impaired cognitive and psychomotor performance in blood and urine specimens. However, the level of diphenhydramine in blood was too low to quantify and therefore any effects from it likely did not contribute to the accident.
Probable Cause: A catastrophic engine failure of undetermined origin, which resulted in a total loss of engine power and subsequent ditching. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to jettison the canopy before ditching, which resulted in his inability to egress the airplane as it sank.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N1345B
Location
Media:
. .The body of a pilot was recovered after a vintage plane crashed into the Hudson River https://t.co/J0PC98R8oJ pic.twitter.com/IZFLXGW13o
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 28, 2016
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-May-2016 06:07 | Aerossurance | Added |
| 28-May-2016 06:09 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative] |
| 28-May-2016 06:14 | Aerossurance | Updated [Embed code] |
| 28-May-2016 06:34 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 28-May-2016 14:29 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 30-May-2016 08:32 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 30-May-2016 09:56 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code] |
| 30-May-2016 10:37 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code] |
| 15-Jun-2016 17:01 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 16-Nov-2017 07:45 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 13-Apr-2020 19:01 | Anon. | Updated [Nature, Source, Embed code] |
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