41.5276° N, 87.4239° WPlaced by OpenAirDocs: center of Griffith, IN, within about 6 miles.Open in the map
Date
October 7, 1989 · 15:00 local
Place
Griffith, IN
Airport
Griffith Airport
Phase of flight
Level Off Touchdown
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N2605P
Reported as
Piper PA38112
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
582 total38 in this make and model117 in the last 90 days
From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Practicing soft field landing pilot encountered a downdraft resulting in hard landing. Gear collapsed.
As the FAA filed it
PRACTICING SOFT FIELD LANDING PILOT ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT RESULTING IN HARD LANDING. GEAR COLLAPSED.