- Date
- February 18, 1990, 19:00 local (Feb 19, 1990, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Chamblee, GA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N222GWPiper PA-31T1
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report October 2, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900218002319A
- Case key
- 8209
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 misjudged the landing flare. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to defrost the windshield during the approach.
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
Following an instrument landing system approach in IMC, the airplane landed hard, which collapsed the right main landing gear. The windscreen had become fogged during the approach. The pilot stated that the windscreen defrosting system was not used, and that there were no mechanical malfunctions. Because of the fogged windscreen, the pilot misjudged the landing sink rate, and failed to flare prior to touchdown.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N222GW
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31T1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31T-7904050
- Airframe hours
- 2,232
- Engine
- P&W PT-6-11, 500 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Executive/Corporate · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Int'L Textile Fabrics, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · February 9, 1990 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- GRD · Greenwood, SC
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PDK · Dekalb Peachtree, runway 20L, 4,000 × 75 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
- 52
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,404 total · 281 in this make and model · 6,266 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 50° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 41 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PDK
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.