19980926026759A

During crop dusting training flight over a field, the acft stalled and crashed.(-23) the pilot failed to maintain control of his Piper, PA28-180, aircraft while landing at Castle airport. The aircraft made a hard landing in a grass area located approximately 6000 feet from the approach end of runway 31 and to the right of the runway. The left main landing gear and nose wheel separated from the aircraft when it made contact with the ground. The pilot and passenger safely exited the aircraft and had no injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and there was no fire. (.19) the aircraft impacted the runway, bounced and the nose wheel and left main were sheared off. (.4) the purpose of the flight was to attend an airshow at the accident airport. The pilot filed an IFR flight plan and conducted a preflight inspection, including an engine run-up with no discrepancies noted. The accident airport had issued a NOTAM concerning takeoff and landing procedures on the 11,802-foot-long runway. Aircraft would be taking off and landing approximately 3,000 feet apart in three different locations identified with different colored dots. The NOTAM further stated that there would be an inc rease in traffic volume and the tower was a temporary tower. The pilot had been cleared to land on the orange dot. The pilot complied with this request and was once again instructed to extend his final approach to the green dot. Prior to touchdown the pilot had to correct for a left crosswind. He reported that the wind decreased in velocity and the airplane sink rate increased. He advanced the throttle, and was caught by a gust of wind on the left side. He added additional power and corrected for the crosswind condition with opposite aileron and rudder inputs, but the controls were ineffective. The aircraft collided with the runway and collapsed the landing gear. Witnesses to the accident stated that a crosswind condition existed at the time of the accident.