- Date
- September 7, 1986, 14:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Huntsville, AL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6309PPiper PA-24 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860907044619A
- Case key
- 7183
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 stated purpose of this flt was a bfr for the plt. Both the CFI and the plt stated that the bfr part of the flt was complete and that the plt was practicing a short field landing when the accident occurred. The approach was too low and the left main landing gear snagged a cable strung across the end of the runway. The cable was to keep cars from taking a short cut across the rwy. Rwy 36 has a displaced threshold. Other acft in the traffic pattern forced the plt to make a longer than normal final apch. The pax stated that he noticed that the sink rate increased just prior to impact with the cable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6309P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-1419
- Airframe hours
- 4,050
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert L. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 22, 1986 · 50 hours before
- Airport
- M82 · Huntsville Airport North, runway 36, 3,765 × 60 ft, asphalt
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
- 54
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,110 total · 61 in this make and model · 5,010 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HSV, 17 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.