- Date
- February 23, 2024, 15:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Tulsa, OK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3645WPiper PA32
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240223000929A
- Case key
- 193837
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 inadvertent retraction of the flaps while landing which resulted in a hard landing and loss of directional control.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that, while landing, the flaps were inadvertently retracted from the full position. The airplane touched down abruptly on the right side of the runway and headed off the runway toward the runway safety area. The pilot attempted to correct with opposite rudder but overcorrected and the airplane exited the left side of the runway. The pilot reported he then attempted a go-around but was not able to establish enough airspeed to become airborne, so he aborted the maneuver. During the runway excursion, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the right wing struck the ground, which resulted in substantial damage to the engine mount. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. At the time of the accident, the pilot was landing the airplane on runway 1R in a variable wind of 5 knots, gusting to 20 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3645W
- Reported as
- Piper PA32 (260)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-549
- Built
- 1966
- Airframe hours
- 3,498
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-E985, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 23, 2023 · 43 hours before
- Departed
- 39OK · Goldsby, OK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- RVS · Tulsa Riverside, runway 01R/19L, 4,208 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic primary flight display
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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 30, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 243 total · 43 in this make and model · 119 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- KRVS
- METAR
- KRVS 232153Z VRB05G20KT 10SM CLR 21/M05 A2998 RMK AO2 SLP159 T02061050
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 11, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 MB in all.
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 N3645W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.