# NTSB CEN20LA436: Piper J3, N88204, Hartford, WI, August 30, 2020 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: August 30, 2020, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC) - Place: Hartford, WI - Coordinates: 43.348876, -88.390265 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=43.3489&lon=-88.3903&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Taxi](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/250) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Taxi: Ground collision](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish - NTSB office: Central Region - Parties: FAA - NTSB case key (mKey): 102358 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CEN20LA436 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/102358/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=102358 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN20LA436 ## Probable cause The pilot’s loss of situation awareness which resulted in landing in a grass area and the subsequent collision with a runway marker. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Info processing/decision: identification/recognition](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041510): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Piper J3C-65, 7 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041510/cases.md?model=7100510), [All aircraft, 559 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041510/cases.md) - [Object/animal/substance: sign/marker](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022015): Environmental issues › Physical environment · Decision related to condition (probable cause); cases with it: [Piper J3C-65, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022015/cases.md?model=7100510), [All aircraft, 214 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022015/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Taxi: Wrong surface or wrong airport](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/284); cases with it: [Piper J3C-65, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/284/sequence.md?model=7100510), [All aircraft, 56 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/284/sequence.md) - [Taxi: Ground collision](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200) (defining event); cases with it: [Piper J3C-65, 6 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200/sequence.md?model=7100510), [All aircraft, 618 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot planned a personal flight to a nearby airport that had recently added new runways. Before the flight, his flight instructor sent him an airport diagram with the new grass runway marked, which was parallel to an asphalt runway. After the pilot reviewed the diagram, he thought he knew where to expect the new grass runway. While in the traffic pattern at the destination airport, the pilot noticed a large open grass space below him, so he landed the airplane. The pilot landed to the east but thought he had landed to the west. The area that he landed on was not the grass runway; while completing a fast taxi, the airplane collided with a runway marker for the north-south runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing spar. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N88204](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N88204), registered now, S/N 15821 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: PIPER J3 - Registry model: [Piper J3C-65](https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-j3c-65) (registry code 7100510) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental C90-12F](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c90-12f) (registry code 17183, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 15821 - Year built: 1946 - Airframe hours: 3880 - Engines: Continental C90-12F 90 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, May 15, 2020, 15 hours before - Departed: ETB, Westbend, WI - Destination: Same as departure - Airport: HXF, Hartford Municipal Airport, runway 09, 2,000 × 200 ft, grass/turf ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 61; injuries: none; sport pilot; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: sport pilot; last flight review July 14, 2020; seat: rear; restraint: lap only; flight hours: 63.2 total, 45.2 in this make and model, 10.9 as pilot in command, 16.9 in the last 90 days, 5 in the last 30 days, 0.5 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Dusk - Wind: 100° at 6 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 64 °F, dew point 52 °F - Altimeter: 29.89 inHg - Observed at: KETB ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20200830018939A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20200830018939A), Aug 30, 2020: Piper J3C-65, Hartford, WI, Substantial damage. On August 30, 2020 at 1730 CST, a Piper J3 cub N88204 piloted by a recreational pilot was substantially damaged while landing at Hartford Municipal Airport… ## Docket (3 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 2, 2021, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=102358. 4.8 MB in all. - Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 9 pages, 1.5 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=11704041&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=6120%20-%20Pilot2_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Correspondence - accident pilot (item 2, PDF, 2 pages, 294 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=12431827&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=ROC%20-%20Pilot-Rel.pdf - Photos (item 3, PDF, 16 pages, 16 photos, 3.0 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=11699322&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=N88204%20Salvage%20Photo%20Sheet-Rel.pdf From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- 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.