NTSB Preliminary Report: I-684 Driver Pulled 1 Victim From Plane Crash

PURCHASE, NY — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary report detailing the moments before the fatal plane crash on a Westchester county interstate highway.

On December 12, the Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam P2008, N298PM, crashed in the median of I-684 in Purchase.

The commercial pilot was killed, and a private pilot on the plane was seriously injured.

According to preliminary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control audio and Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) data, after takeoff at about 6:09 p.m. from Linden Airport in New Jersey, the flight turned left and proceeded north over the Hudson River. About thirty minutes later, one of the pilots advised air traffic controllers that they wanted to divert to Westchester County Airport because they were, "…losing our engine." At this time, the airplane was about 10 nautical miles northwest of the approach end of runway 16 at the airport.

The controller told the two pilots that they could make a right turn, and then proceed direct to Westchester.

The ADS-B flight track data showed that the airplane turned right and proceeded towards the runway. Then, about about a minute later, one of the pilots told the controller that they, "…switched fuel tanks and it looks like it’s we got our engine back for now…."

The controller asked to confirm that the engine was working and that they wanted to continue towards HPN, and one of the pilots replied "affirmative."

But, while flying at 1,950 ft and about 4.7 nautical miles northwest of the approach end of runway 16, one of the pilots advised the New York TRACON controller, "we're losing our engine again…" and would proceed straight in for runway 16. The controller cleared the flight to land while the airplane continued towards HPN while descending.

Airport video surveillance from HPN depicted the airplane making a steep left turn and descending while above Interstate I-684. The airplane then climbed quickly and then steeply descended below the tree line.

A witness who was driving south on I-684 reported seeing the airplane about a half mile ahead of his car. He noted that he did not hear any sound from the airplane and could not tell if the engine's propeller was rotating. He reports seeing the airplane "fall very fast out of the sky and crash in the center median."

That eyewitness went to the accident site. He did not smell any fuel or see any evidence of fire, and was able to pull one occupant out from the left side of the airplane before Westchester County police arrived.

The airplane came to rest upright, leaning to the left in the narrow median between the north and soutbound lanes of I-684, with the outer portion of the right wing extending over the guardrail and shoulder adjacent to the western most edge of the northbound lanes. The wreckage was recovered the night of the accident for examination, and revealed that all major portions of the wreckage were accounted for. The left fuel tank drain sump area was breached due to impact damage and was leaking fuel after the accident, but the tank contained 0.3 gallon of aviation fuel, while the right fuel tank, which was not breached, contained about 9 gallons of fuel.

Examination of the flight controls for roll, pitch and yaw revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. Initial examination of the engine did not reveal any immediate evidence of a catastrophic mechanical failure or malfunction.