- Date
- May 12, 1997, 21:00 local (May 13, 1997, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Grayslake, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8309LPiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970512012919A
- Case key
- 10564
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 misjudgment of the aircraft's speed and runway distance available. Factors were an off-field ditch and a tailwind condition.
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 stated that on his fourth landing, during a series of night touch and go's, he 'flared the plane and it 'floated' for a long time.' With the end of the runway approaching the airplane departed the runway onto a taxiway. The pilot wrote 'I tried to turn into the taxiway at the runway's end, but was going too fast to make the turn.' The aircraft exited the taxiway, coming to rest in a 'nose down' attitude in a small canal off the end of the runway and taxiway. After exiting the airplane the pilot reported 'I noticed a strong wind directly from the east and observed the wind sock standing out with a bend of approximately 45 degrees.'
Factual narrative
On May 12, 1997, at 2100 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-181, N8309L, operated by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during an overrun on landing. The airplane was landing on runway 27 (3,270' x 40' dry asphalt) at Campbell Airport, near Grayslake, Illinois. The pilot reported no injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file for the local flight, that departed at 2010.
In a written statement by the pilot, he stated that on his fourth landing, during a series of night touch and go's, he "flared the plane and it 'floated' for a long time." With the end of the runway approaching the airplane departed the runway onto a taxiway. The pilot wrote, "I tried to turn into the taxiway at the runway's end, but was going too fast to make the turn." The aircraft exited the taxiway, coming to rest in a "nose down" attitude in a small canal off the end of the runway and taxiway. After exiting the airplane the pilot reported, "I noticed a strong wind directly from the east and observed the wind sock standing out with a bend of approximately 45 degrees."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8309L
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8190112
- Airframe hours
- 4,300
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Cardinal Aircraft Service
- Registered owner
- James W. Zubert
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 11, 1997 · 44 hours before
- Departed
- C81
- Airport
- C81 · Cambell, runway 27, 3,270 × 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
- 61
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 183 total · 8 in this make and model · 123 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 90° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 10 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N8309L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.