British Aerospace J-3101 accident near Bear Creek Town, Pennsylvania, May 21, 2000
On May 21, 2000 at about 3:28 pm local time, a British Aerospace J-3101, registered N16EJ, was destroyed in an accident near Bear Creek Town, Pennsylvania (Wilkes-Barre Scranton Int'L airport). It was flown under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 19 people were killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The flight crew’s failure to ensure an adequate fuel supply for the flight, which led to the stoppage of the right engine due to fuel exhaustion and the intermittent stoppage of the left engine due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident were the flight crew's failure to monitor the airplane’s fuel state and the flight crew's failure to maintain directional control after the initial engine stoppage.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 21, 2000 · about 3:28 pm local time
- Place
- Bear Creek Town, Pennsylvania · Wilkes-Barre Scranton Int'L · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 19 people were killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- British Aerospace J-3101
- Registration
- N16EJ · registry record · serial 834
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. On May 21, 2000, about 1128 eastern daylight time (EDT), a British Aerospace Jetstream 3101, N16EJ, operated by East Coast Aviation Services (doing business as Executive Airlines) crashed about 11 miles south of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a postcrash fire, and 17 passengers and two flight crewmembers were killed. The flight was being conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 as an on-demand charter flight for Caesar’s Palace Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. An instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed for the flight from Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) to AVP.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 8,500 hours in all; 5,674 in this make and model; 5,000 as pilot in command
- Injury: fatal
Crew member
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Flight time: 1,282 hours in all; 742 in this make and model; 400 as pilot in command
The aircraft
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, March 15, 2000
- Seats: 19
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Allied Signal TPE331-10UGR (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: ACY Atlantic City NJ at 2:30 pm
- Destination: AVP Wilkes Barre PA
- Flight plan: IFR
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 260° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 2.5 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 500 ft
- Temperature: 52°F (11°C), dew point 52°F (11°C)
- Altimeter: 30.04 inHg
- Observation at 3:23 pm from AVP, 9 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 17 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number DCA00MA052.