North American SNJ 2 N62382

Summary

On 30 May 2018 at about 17:48 local time, a North American SNJ 2 registered N62382, operated by Snj-2 Corp, was involved in an accident near Melville, New York, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 May 2018 at 17:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Melville, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Republic (FRG)

Coordinates

40.7683, -73.3903

Aircraft

North American SNJ 2

Registration

N62382

Category

Airplane

Year built

1940

Engines

1

Operator

Snj-2 Corp

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Farmingdale → Patuxent River

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR18FA155

1 person died.

The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall, spin, and subsequent impact with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed the airport with the intention of joining five other airplanes to proceed on a cross-country formation flight. The rear seat passenger onboard one of the other airplanes and a witness on the ground watched as the accident airplane entered a steep, climbing right 180° turn to about 1,300 ft above ground level, then subsequently entered a spin that continued to ground contact. A video captured the airplane in a steep, nose-down angle rotating around its vertical axis before impacting the ground. Postaccident examination revealed no anomalies with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation, with the exception of some preexisting cracks in the cockpit heater assembly. However, these cracks would not have negatively impacted the pilot's ability to control the airplane. Toxicology of the pilot revealed the presence of carbon monoxide in his blood that was not the result of the postcrash fire, and further examination of the heater assembly revealed no cracks or holes in the exhaust pipe that would have allowed gases to mix with the cockpit air supply. Given the level of carbon monoxide detected, it is unlikely that the pilot experienced any symptoms, regardless of the source, and there was no evidence to suggest that any carbon monoxide in the pilot's system contributed to the circumstances of the accident. Therefore, it is likely that, during the climbing turn, the pilot exceeded the airplane's critical angle of attack and the airplane experienced an aerodynamic stall and inadvertent spin.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.