- Date
- June 16, 1992, 21:00 local (Jun 17, 1992, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Catherine, KS
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N2363KPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report March 9, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920616020729A
- Case key
- 15472
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 inadequate preflight planning. Factors associated with this accident were unsuitable terrain selected by the pilot and airplane clearance over the fence not attained by the pilot.
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 private pilot was performing turns around a point, his grandmother's house, when his passenger became ill. The pilot landed the airplane in a rough pasture area near the home. The ill passenger deplaned and a relative of the pilot enplaned. During the takeoff roll the pilot stated the airplane encountered clumps of tall grass and ruts. According to the pilot, 'I thought we were just about to become airborne when we hit a big rutt, this slowed us down significantly to not enable us to become airborne, but not slow enough to stop.' The pilot attempted to make the airplane fly over a fence at the end of the 1/4 mile field. The airplane became airborne and its main landing gear tires struck the fence. The airplane collided with the ground shortly thereafter. The post accident investigation revealed the pilot's operating handbook did not provide information which would factor sod field operations into the takeoff distance calculations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2363K
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-79A0593
- Airframe hours
- 3,008
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2A, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Riches Air Service
- Registered owner
- Carol A. Polcyn
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 29, 1992 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- HYS · Hays, KS
- Destination
- HYS
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
- 22
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 69 total · 63 in this make and model · 35 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 180° at 20 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HYS, 4 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.