De Havilland DHC-6 TWIN N204EH

Summary

On 13 June 2009 at about 23:45 local time, a De Havilland DHC-6 TWIN registered N204EH, operated by Skydive Factory Inc, was involved in an accident near Orange, Virginia, United States. 2 people were on board. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 June 2009 at 23:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Orange, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Orange Country Airport (OMH)

Coordinates

38.2472, -78.0456

Aircraft

De Havilland DHC-6 TWIN

Registration

N204EH

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Skydive Factory Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Skydiving

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Orange → Orange

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09LA344

Injuries not recorded.

The pilot's improper decision to perform a low-level maneuver over a populated skydive landing area and his inadequate visual lookout.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that after the 20 skydivers left the airplane, he “descended and entered at a 45-degree angle for the downwind leg for landing on runway 08.” Once on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot stated that the “windshield began fogging up.” The pilot decided to make a 360-degree turn to the right while he wiped the window with a rag. The pilot further stated that the last altitude he remembered being at was 2,000 feet mean sea level. Many of the skydivers had landed in a predetermined landing area, which was a field 0.25 nautical miles northwest of the runway. They reported that the airplane was conducting a “low-pass” about 30 feet above the ground when its propeller struck a descending skydiver’s parachute. The skydiver was seriously injured when he fell approximately 20 feet and struck the ground, but the airplane landed without incident. A few of the skydivers stated that the jump was a memorial exercise to release the ashes of a friend that recently died. They added that the airplane's low pass was part of the memorial exercise. The winds recorded at the airport about the time of the accident were calm. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.