- Date
- March 17, 1990, 10:40 local (16:40 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4340KPiper PA28R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900317004639A
- Case key
- 14645
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 of the pilot to maintain control of the accident airplane during an attempted landing.
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 accident airplane collided with terrain while attempting a crosswind landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage when the right main landing gear collapsed. The private rated pilot, the only person onboard, was not injured. The pilot stated that the flight was uneventful until he started his approach. He goes on to say that his crosswind correction and speed appeared to be adequate to maintain runway alignment and then completes his statement by relating how a sudden gust of wind pushed the aircraft downward causing a hard landing. An airport weather observation taken 5 minutes after the accident reported the wind as being 80 degrees from the runway at 20 knots. The demonstrated crosswind component on this airplane is 17 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4340K
- Reported as
- Piper PA28R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R8431016
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-360FB, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Rouchdi Rifai
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- PTK · Oakland Pontiac, MI
- Airport
- runway 18, 3,947 × 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
- 34
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 248 total · 70 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 20 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- CGX
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.