- Date
- April 21, 1989, 22:20 local (Apr 22, 1989, 03:20 UTC)
- Place
- Brazil, IN
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2601APiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report August 22, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890421009789A
- Case key
- 14339
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
Failure to establish a proper glidepath. Contributing to the accident was the dark night condition, the pilot's overconfidence in his personal ability, and his lack of familiarity with the airplane.
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 elected to conduct his final approach at a lower altitude from the ground than during his previous landing at another airport on this day due to the previous approach resulting in a long landing. The approach was on a dark night and the aircraft struck trees short of the runway followed by an uncontrolled descent into the terrain. The pilot sustained serious injuries, however his passenger reported no injuries.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2601A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-78A0771
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Winn, David
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- 4A9 · Ft. Payne, AL
- Airport
- 0I2 · Clay County, runway 27, 2,940 × 40 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
- 69
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Expired
- Flight hours
- 6,000 total · 4 in this make and model · 6,000 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 110° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- HUF, 10 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.