- Date
- May 3, 1991, 10:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Eek, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4593TPiper PA-32-300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19910503014049A
- Case key
- 5540
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Was the hard landing caused when the pilot encountered a downdraft during the final approach portion of the landing. Contributing to the accident was the downdraft and the dirt/river bank just short of the runway.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot-in-command stated that she encountered a downdraft on short final. The airplane first touched down about 4 feet short of the runway, bounced, then landed hard on the runway causing all landing gear to separate from the fuselage. The point of first touchdown was sloped down and away from the runway about 30 degrees. The end of the runway was about 100 feet from a river bank which dropped rapidly about 20 feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4593T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-7240071
- Airframe hours
- 7,673
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1A5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Camai Air, doing business as Village Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Nunakauiak Yupik Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 29, 1991 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- AQH · Quinhagak, AK
- Destination
- EEK · AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- EEK · Eek, runway 17, 1,344 × 50 ft, gravel
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 32
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,516 total · 25 in this make and model · 1,238 as pilot in command · 126 in the last 90 days · 46 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 125° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 39 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N4593T · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.