# Incident 20070623012769I: Piper PA31325, Gaithersburg, MD, June 23, 2007 - Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: June 23, 2007, 14:00 local time - Place: Gaithersburg, MD - Airport: Montgomery County Airpark - Damage: Minor damage - Phase of flight: Roll-Out (Fixed Wing) - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 39.1683° N, 77.1660° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at MONTGOMERY COUNTY AIRPARK (GAI), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=39.1683&lon=-77.1660&mi=10 - Aircraft: N300HF, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N300HF-2013-03-12) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Piper PA-31-325 (registry code 7103105, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-31-325) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: PIPER PA31325 - People aboard: 2 - Fatal injuries: 0 - Pilot flight hours: 0 total, 0 in this make and model, 0 in the last 90 days - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20070623012769I ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. (-23) SAFETY COUNSELOR AT GAI STATEMENT:SATURDAY, JUNE 23 MID AFTERNOON, I WAS SITTING IN THE GAI RESTAURANT AND OBSERVED A NAVAJO (N300HF) LANDING AT WHAT SEEMED TO ME AN EXCESSIVE SPEED, LONG AND NOT ON A STABLE APPROACH I.E. PORPOISING IN THE FLAIR. IT WENT OUT OF MY VIEW AND I WENT BACK TO EATING LUNCH. MOMENTS LATER THE UNICOM OPERATOR CAME IN TO ME AND ASKED IF SHE SHOULD CALL ATC AND CLOSE THE AIRPORT AS A PLANE HAD STRUCK A TAXI SIGN AND WHILE THE AIRCRAFT WAS IN THE GRASS ITS TAIL WAS FIVE FEET ON THE RUNWAY. TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT UNICOM ADVISED LOCAL TRAFFIC TO NOT LAND AND THE TRACTOR WAS DISPATCHED TO PULL THE PLANE OFF THE RUNWAY AND OFF THE GRASS. FIFTEEN MINUTES AND THE PLANE WAS CLEAR OF THE RUNWAY AND BEING TOWED TO THE RAMP AND ONLY A COUPLE OF PLANES HAD TO DO GO-AROUNDS. IN A LITTLE WHILE I WENT TO THE RAMP AND TALKED WITH THE PILOT WHO HAD JUST FINISHED A CONVERSATION WITH HIS "MAINTENANCE INSPECTOR" IN KENTUCKY. I WAS TOLD THAT THE INSPECTOR TOLD THE PILOT TO FILE OR HAVE THE PROP FILED AND STRAIGHTEN THE CURVE, DO A HIGH RPM RUN UP AND IF ALL SEEMED OK TO FLY IT HOME. I TOLD THE PILOT I DID NOT THINK THAT WAS SUCH A GOOD IDEA AND THAT A LOCAL IA WOULD BE AVAILABLE ON MONDAY TO HELP HIM AND GAVE HIM THE PHONE NUMBERS OF OUR TWO MAINTENANCE SHOPS. HE TOOK THE NAMES AND NUMBERS, THANKED ME AND WE SAID GOOD-BY. I WAS AT THE AIRPORT SUNDAY AND SAW ONE OF THE MAINTENANCE SHOP IA'S. AFTER LOOKING AT THE PROP HE SAID HE WOULD NOT FILE OR STRAIGHTEN THAT PROP. HIS SUGGESTION WAS TO SENT IT TO A REPAIR SHOP AND CONSIDER AN ENGINE TEAR DOWN. ATTACHED ARE SIX PICTURES I TOOK. I HAVE SOME MORE BUT THESE SHOULD DO FOR NOW. ON ARRIVING AT THE AIRPORT THIS MORNING I SAW THAT THE NAVAJO WAS NOT HERE AND THE UNICOM PERSON SAID THAT IT LEFT SUNDAY AROUND 1700. ON MY ANSWERING MACHINE WAS A MESSAGE FROM A LOCAL PILOT SAYING HE TALKED WITH THE NAVAJO PILOT SUNDAY AFTERNOON ABOUT THE PROP AND SUGGESTED WAITING UNTIL TODAY TO LEAVE. THE NAVAJO PILOT SAID HE HAD A "FERRY PERMIT" AND HE WAS LEAVING IF THE RUN-UP WAS SUCCESSFUL. THE LOCAL PILOT OBSERVED THAT TWO BLADES OF THE PROP HAD BEEN FILED BUT THE "BEND" WAS STILL THERE. HE SAW THE PILOT AND HIS WIFE ENTER THE PLANE, START IT, DO A HIGH RPM RUN-UP AND LEAVE. THE NAVAJO PILOT CALLED ME THIS MORNING AND SAID THEY MADE IT BACK OK ALTHOUGH THERE WERE SOME THUNDERSTORMS TO NAVIGATE AROUND. AND WOULD I CONTACT THE AIRPORT MANAGER AND HAVE HIM SEND A BILL FOR THE TAXI SIGN THAT HE BROKE. HE STATED AGAIN THAT HIS MAINTENANCE INSPECTOR SAID IT WAS OK TO FLY HOME IF THE RUN-UP SEEMED OK. IT DID AND SO HE DID. ## Other reports on N300HF (2) Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date. - [Accident 19910731030949A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19910731030949A), Jul 31, 1991: Piper PA31325 (N300HF), Spartanburg, SC, Substantial damage. Landed gedar up. No mechanical defects. - [Accident 19881019046699A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19881019046699A), Oct 19, 1988: Piper PA31325 (N300HF), Big Rapids, MI, Substantial damage. Stalled turning tight final to align with runway. A wing was bent up in ground impact. Aircraft leveled and landed. From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft 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. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.