Two Fataly Injured In The Mid-Air Collision In New York State

The NTSB has issued a preliminary report in an accident that fatally injured two people during a Young Eagles flight on September 27th. The inflight collision occurred six statute miles ESE of the Buffalo-Lancaster Regional Airport (NY) at approximately 1040 local time. The accident involved a Cessna 172 Skyhawk and an experimental Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey.

Killed in the Skyhawk were 78 year-old pilot Anthony Mercurio and 14 year-old passenger James Metz. Flying the was pilot 59 year-old Kevin D'Angelo. His nine-year-old female passenger was not ID'ed and is said to have had only minor injuries.

According to the NTSB report, the Cessna departed controlled flight after the collision, descended vertically in a spiral, and was destroyed by impact forces at ground contact. The SeaRey entered a descending right turn, and performed a forced landing to a thicket of low brush, and was substantially damaged. The commercial pilot and passenger on board the Cessna were fatally injured. The private pilot and passenger in the SeaRey were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for either airplane, each on local personal flights which departed BQR at 1009 (SeaRey) and 1012 (Cessna), respectively.

Several witnesses provided statements, and their accounts were consistent throughout. They each said their attention was drawn to the sound of the airplanes and/or the sound of collision. The airplanes were both traveling westbound as one airplane overtook the other, or was on top of the other, before one airplane (Cessna) was seen to "tip" or "roll" inverted before it descended vertically in a spiral. The second airplane (SeaRey) descended in a 180-degree turn and the sound of the engine was increasing and decreasing, "revving" or "sputtering" throughout the descent.

Preliminary radar information provided by the FAA revealed that both airplanes were assigned discrete transponder codes. The data depicted both airplanes traveling westbound on roughly the same ground track. The Cessna was at 1,774 feet and 90 knots groundspeed and the SeaRey was further west, at 1,575 feet and 70 knots groundspeed. As the Cessna approached the SeaRey from the east, it descended slowly to 1,625 feet. At the same time, the SeaRey climbed slowly to 1,625 feet. For the last few seconds of the Cessna's flight, both airplanes were depicted at 1,625 feet, and in close lateral proximity. Radar contact with the Cessna was suddenly lost in the vicinity of its accident site, while a descending right turn was depicted for the SeaRey.

The 1054 weather observation at Buffalo International Airport (BUF), 5 miles west of the accident site included clear skies, calm winds, and 10 miles visibility.

The Cessna came to rest on flat, wooded terrain and all major components of the airplane were accounted for at the scene. The airplane came to rest nose down with the engine buried beneath the instrument panel in the initial impact crater, and was severely deformed by impact forces. The leading edges of both wings were uniformly crushed aft in compression. Control continuity was established from the cockpit area to all flight control surfaces. Both propeller blades displayed similar twisting, bending, leading edge gouging and chordwise scratching.

The SeaRey came to rest upright in a dense thicket. Examination of the airplane revealed that the trailing edge of the right wing flap displayed a series of parallel slash marks, and the structural tubing was severed, and the fracture surfaces were smeared. The structural cable between the wing strut and the empennage was still attached at each end, but missing a section about 5 feet in length in the middle. The two severed ends displayed features consistent with overload separation. The empennage displayed a vertical opening and parallel slash marks.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov