Piper PA-32-260 accident near Douglassville, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1982
On December 2, 1982 at about 3:05 am local time, a Piper PA-32-260, registered N32750, was destroyed in an accident near Douglassville, Pennsylvania (Pottstown Municipal airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 3 people were killed and 2 people were seriously injured. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 2, 1982 · about 3:05 am local time
- Place
- Douglassville, Pennsylvania · Pottstown Municipal · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 3 people were killed and 2 people were seriously injured.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-32-260 · all PA-32-260s on the register
- Registration
- N32750 · no longer on the register · serial 32-7500008
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
AT APRX 1540 EST, THE ACFT WAS DISPATCHED TO PHILADELPHIA, PA ON A PAX FLT. AFTER ARRIVING, THE PLT REMAINED THERE TO PICK UP 4 OTHER PAX THAT WERE ARRIVING AT APPROX 2100 EST. AT 2007, THE PLT RECEIVED A PARTIAL WX BRIEF & FILED AN IFR FLT PLAN TO RTN TO POTTSTOWN. THE ACFT DEPARTED WITH AN IFR CLNC AT 2145 & PROCEEDED AT 3000 FT MSL, JUST ABV THE CLD TOPS. DRG ARRIVAL, THE PLT WAS CLRD FOR A VOR-B APCH TO THE POTTSTOWN MUNI ARPT. HE RPRTD THAT HE COULD SEE THE ARPT BEACON FROM OVER THE VOR, BUT NOTED PATCHY GND FOG. THE APCH WAS CONTD TO THE MISSED APCH POINT WHERE HE LOST SITE OF THE BCN. HE BGN MAKING A MISSED APCH; HOWEVER, WHEN THE THROTTLE WAS ADVANCED, NO DIFFERENCE IN ENG SOUND WAS NOTED, EXCEPT HE RECALLED THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME "FLUTTER IN THE ENGINE." RPRTDLY, THE ACFT CONTD DSNDG & SLOWING TIL IT HIT TREES AT 440 FT MSL, APRX 1 MI NW OF THE ARPT (ARPT ELEV 256 FT). NO PREIMPACT FAILURE WAS FOUND. TEMP & DEW PT WERE 48 DEG, ICG PROB CHART INDICATED SERIOUS CARB ICG CONDS WERE PRESENT. HOWEVER, PSN OF CARB HEAT CTL COULD NOT BE VERIFIED.
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: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,716 hours in all; 100 in this make and model; 268 in the last 90 days; 84 in the last 30 days; 3,479 as pilot in command; 756 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: unk
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,745 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded; 65 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,400 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-540-E4B5 (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Basco Flying Service, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: PHL Philadelphia PA at 9:45 pm
- Destination: N47 Pottstown PA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 25, 2,700 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Sky: not recorded
- Temperature: 118°F (48°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 2:45 am from RDG, 15 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 3 | 1 |
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.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.