- Date
- September 22, 1982, 13:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Near Darby, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N32180Piper PA-28-151
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 22, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820922048479A
- Case key
- 71857
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
Since the shook mountain resort airport was new to the pilot, he called the airport to get further information. He stated that the person who answered reported it was a nice day and the wind sock had blown down. During arrival, he approached from the northeast. He stated that before landing, the runway looked to be a beautiful 4000 ft plus strip, but during the landing, he noticed a fence across what he thought was Near the middle of the runway. By this time, there was insufficient room to stop or go around without hittting the fence. The pilot noted that the sectional chart showed the runway was 2500 ft long, but his flight guide indicated it was 3150 ft long. An investigationrevealed that years earlier, the runway had been nearly 4000 ft long. The last portion of the runway was on a farmer's land and had been converted to other purposes. The closed portion had been x-ed and piles of shrubs had been placed on it. The open portion was 2550 ft long. The pilot did not circle or enter a normal pattern before landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N32180
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-151
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7515086
- Airframe hours
- 3,210
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John Thomas Ledgerwood
- Registered owner
- John Thomas Ledgerwood
- Departed
- C · Missoula, MT
- Destination
- C · Darby, MT
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 407 · Wilcox-Shook Mt. Resort, runway 21, 2,550 × 60 ft, gravel
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 127 total · 63 in this make and model · 70 as pilot in command · 23 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Temperature
- 158 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.