- Date
- November 7, 2002, 20:10 local (Nov 8, 2002, 02:10 UTC)
- Place
- Fayette, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8389YPiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Birmingham FSDO
- FAA report
- 20021107036279A
- Case key
- 56035
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
The pilot's poor inflight decision to land on a non illuminated runway, and the pilot's failure to maintain clearance during an attempted night landing that resulted in an on ground collision with a parked car. A factor was the light condition.
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
Upon arriving at the destination airport the pilot was unable to activate the runway lights. According to witnesses, the runway lights at the airport were inoperative. In an effort to facilitate a night landing, the pilot requested assistance from the local sheriff department. The sheriff's department requested assistance of friends and employees of the airport to align their vehicles along the side of the runway and turned on their headlights to illuminate the runway. The pilot made two unsuccessful attempts to land. On the third attempt the airplane landed and struck one of the cars parked along the side of the runway. The airplane rolled over, and slid down the runway. The airplane came to rest inverted. There is no record of the pilot obtaining notice to airmen regarding the inoperative runway lights. Examination of the airplane revealed that the left wing was separated from the airplane. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
On November 7, 2002, at 2010 central standard time, a Piper PA-28-181, N8389Y, registered to and operated by the private pilot, collided with an automobile during landing at the Arthur Airport in Fayette, Alabama. The flight was operated under the provision of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The pilot was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight originated from the Arthur Airport, Fayette, Alabama, at 1900, on November 7, 2002.
Upon arriving at the destination airport the pilot was unable to activate the runway lights. According to witnesses, the runway lights at the airport were inoperative. In an effort to facilitate a night landing, the pilot requested assistance from the local sheriff department. The sheriff's department requested assistance of friends and employees of the airport to align their vehicles along the side of the runway and turned on their headlights to illuminate the runway. The pilot made two unsuccessful attempts to land. On the third attempt the airplane landed and struck one of the cars parked along the side of the runway. The airplane rolled over, and slid down the runway. The airplane came to rest inverted. There is no record of the pilot obtaining notice to airmen regarding the inoperative runway lights.
Examination of the airplane revealed that the left wing was separated from the airplane. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8389Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8190240
- Airframe hours
- 2,623
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 19, 2001 · 113 hours before
- Departed
- M95 · Fayette, AL
- Destination
- M95 · Fayette, AL
- Airport
- M95 · Richard Arthur Field, runway 36, 4,838 × 80 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 2, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,247 total · 792 in this make and model · 1,170 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 0° at 0 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.26 inHg
- Observed at
- TCL, 25 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.