- Date
- March 4, 1982, 23:56 local (Mar 5, 1982, 05:56 UTC)
- Place
- Valparaiso, IN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N34EEPiper PA-30
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 4, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820304003519A
- Case key
- 72910
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 pilot reported encountering severe icing conditions after he had canceled his IFR flight plan and had the airport in sight. At that point, he felt that the safest alternative was to continue the approach. The approach was flown at 120 mph with no flaps. As the approach was continued, ice began to accumulate rapidly. With full power, the pilot was unable to stop the descent. The plane touched down 78 ft short of the runway and bounced in the air again. The pilot retracted the gear in an attempt to keep the aircraft flying. The windshield was covered with ice, but he was able to see a parallel taxiway by looking through the side window. The plane was maneuvered to the taxiway and landed at a high descent rate with the gear up.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N34EE
- Reported as
- Piper PA-30
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30-1138
- Airframe hours
- 1,340
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320-B1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Eagle Aircraft Company
- Registered owner
- Eagle Aircraft Company
- Departed
- Chicago, IL
- Destination
- Valparaiso, IN
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- VPZ · Porter County, runway 9, 6,000 × 150 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
- 23
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 2,613 total · 29 in this make and model · 2,446 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 90° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- VPZ
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.