- Date
- September 17, 1998, 11:50 local (16:50 UTC)
- Place
- Janesville, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4749ZPiper PA-22-108
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 19, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980917024929A
- Case key
- 43936
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 failure to land the airplane at a proper touchdown point on the runway. A factor was the excessive rate of descent which developed on final approach.
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 reported the airplane started to sink while he was on short final. He applied power, but the airplane continued to descend until contacting the terrain short of the approach end of the runway.
Factual narrative
On September 17, 1998, at 1150 central daylight time, a Piper PA- 22-108, N4749Z, operated by a private pilot touched down short of runway 13 at the Rock County Airport, Janesville, Wisconsin. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight originated from Schaumburg, Illinois, at 1100 cdt.
The pilot reported that he was cleared to enter a right traffic pattern for runway 13 when he was about 15 miles away from the airport. He reported that on short final, at an altitude of about 60 feet above the ground, with the engine set at 1500 rpm, the airplane started to sink. The pilot reported he applied power, but the airplane continued to sink. The airplane contacted the terrain short of the approach end of the runway. The nose wheel contacted the top of a 25-foot ditch which resulted in the nose gear collapsing.
Local winds at the time of the accident were reported as being from 110 degrees at 6 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4749Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22-108
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-8305
- Airframe hours
- 2,840
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C, 108 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Philip A. Capone
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 1997 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- 06C · Schaumburg, IL
- Destination
- JVL
- Airport
- JVL · Rock County, runway 13, 5,396 × 150 ft, concrete
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
- 70
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,483 total · 900 in this make and model · 21 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JVL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.