# NTSB CHI96LA078: Piper J3C-65, N1412N, Mount Horeb, WI, January 14, 1996 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: January 14, 1996, 12:25 local (18:25 UTC) - Place: Mount Horeb, WI - Coordinates: 43.000484, -89.729499 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=43.0005&lon=-89.7295&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Taxi](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/250) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Serious injuries - Injuries: 1 serious, 1 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious - Status: Completed, report July 3, 1996 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 10187 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CHI96LA078 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/10187/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI96LA078 ## Probable cause failure of the pilot to see-and-avoid the pedestrian. Factors relating to the accident were: the pilot's inadequate preflight preparation, his landing on a closed airstrip, and the snow covered terrain. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - On ground/water collision with object, taxi - from landing - preflight planning/preparation - inadequate, pilot in command (contributing factor) - airport facilities,runway/landing area condition - closed - terrain condition - snow covered (contributing factor) - visual lookout - inadequate, pilot in command (cause) - object - other person - clearance - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) ## Analysis The pilot landed at a closed airstrip after making arrangements to meet his wife there. The airstrip was marked as closed; however, it was covered with snow in the landing area. The pilot said that before landing, he saw a pedestrian along the side of the strip, who waved; he thought the pedestrian was his wife. After landing, the airplane slowed quickly on the snow covered runway. The pilot said he applied some power to continue taxiing in the snow, but the airplane was moving slowly. As the pilot was taxiing the tailwheel equipped airplane without S-turning, he was looking out the door on the right side. He said he caught a glimpse of something to his left, and at about that moment, the left strut of the airplane hit the pedestrian, who was a woman that was walking her dog on the airstrip. The pedestrian was struck in the back of the head and was seriously injured. The pilot did not obtain a weather briefing before the flight nor did he have a current sectional chart. ## Factual narrative On January 14, 1996, at 1225 central standard time, a Piper J3C- 65, NC1412N, collided with a pedestrian during a landing roll on an abandoned airport, at Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. The pilot was not injured and the pedestrian was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was not damaged. The flight originated from Rockton, Illinois, at 1125 cst. The pilot stated that he had made previous arrangements to fly into the Mount Horeb, Gonstead Airport, to meet his wife for lunch. He stated that he had landed at this airport in the past. After arriving at the airport, he circled over the south end of the field where he saw a person on the ground waving to him. He stated that he believed this person was his wife. He continued to report that the person appeared to be walking to the north along the west side of the landing strip. He stated that the south end of the strip was snow covered but the north end appeared clear. According to the pilot, after landing on the south end of the runway the airplane quickly slowed to taxi. He reported, "After coming to a crawl, I continued to taxi straight north while looking forward through the open door on the right hand side of the aircraft. As I taxied north, I caught a glimpse of something on my left. I pulled the throttle back and looked out the left side of the A/C. There was a woman lying in the snow directly under the wing lift strut." The pilot stated he immediately shut the engine down and got out of the airplane to assist the person on the ground. The pilot had a telephone conversation with an Inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration. The inspector's record of this conversation indicates, "Since the snow was deeper than he thought, he used more power than normal for taxiing, but was not going fast, nor was he doing "S" turns... ." The person who was contacted in the back of the head by the wing strut was not the pilot's wife. The son of the person who was struck contacted this investigator and stated that his mother used the abandoned airstrip to walk her dog. He stated that his mother suffered from a fractured vertebra and was currently paralyzed from the neck down. Gonstead Airport had been closed since October, 1993. The runway is marked as closed; however, it was snow covered and the pilot was unable to see the markings. The pilot did not obtain a weather briefing prior to the flight, nor did he have a current sectional chart. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N1412N](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N1412N), registered now, S/N 22935, built 1947 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Piper J3C-65 - Registry model: [Piper J3C-65](https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-j3c-65) (registry code 7100510) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental A&C65 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-a-c65-series) (registry code 17003, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 22935 - Airframe hours: 659 - Engines: Continental A-65 65 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: No damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Richard A. Alcock - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, June 3, 1995, 10 hours before - Departed: PVT, ROCKTON, IL ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 59; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; seat: rear; flight hours: 855 total, 427 in this make and model, 778 as pilot in command, 5 in the last 90 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 330° at 13 knots - Visibility: 8 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 1,100 ft overcast - Temperature: 32 °F, dew point 27 °F - Altimeter: 29.00 inHg - Observed at: MSN, 11 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19960114002489A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19960114002489A), Jan 14, 1996: Piper J3C65, Mount Horeb, WI. (.4)The pilot landed at a closed airstrip after making arrangements to meet his wife there. The airstrip was marked as closed; however, it was covered with… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.