- Date
- August 14, 2024, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Chetek, WI
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3613WPiper PA-32-260
- 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
- FAA report
- 20240814011939A
- Case key
- 194974
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 improper landing flare and hard landing.
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 the airplane landed hard and bounced. He attempted to recover by flaring the nose up to bleed off energy as a gust of wind blew the airplane to the left of runway centerline. The pilot stated that during the hard landing he hit his head on the glareshield and momentarily lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, the airplane was flying towards the trees located to the east of runway 17. The airplane collided with the trees and both wings separated from the fuselage; the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3613W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-260
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-514
- Built
- 1966
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 15, 2023
- Departed
- Y23 · Chetek, WI
- Destination
- Y23 · Chetek, WI
- Airport
- Y23 · Chetek Municipal/Southworth Airport, runway 17, 3,401 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, ADS-B
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
- 34
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 27, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 90 total · 21.7 as pilot in command · 35.2 in the last 90 days · 1.6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 12 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,100 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- KRPD, 9 nm away
- METAR
- KRPD 141735Z AUTO 14012G16KT 7SM BKN041 27/15 A3011
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 8, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.6 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 N3613W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.