- Date
- September 8, 1989, 09:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Monument Valley, UT
- Injuries
- 9 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3554PPiper PA-31-350
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890908035989A
- Case key
- 17787
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 adequately compensate for windshear.
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
Two acft that landed ahead of this flight reported windshear on final approach. The plt said that 1 mile from the threshold, the flight encountered a 15 kt increase in airspeed, followed by a 15 kt decrease in airspeed. The plt said the flight then returned to a normal approach profile & speed. Then, on short final, he heard the stall horn and advanced both throttles full foward. The plane entered a steep sink rate. The plane struck a sand mound with the right landing gear. The plt was able to recover and landed without further incident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3554P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31-350
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31-8052052
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD, 350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Aviation Services West, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- PGA · Page, AZ
- Destination
- 71V · Monument Valley, UT
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- 71V · Monument Valley, runway 16, 3,100 × 75 ft, dirt
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
- 30
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 3,686 total · 700 in this make and model · 3,386 as pilot in command · 247 in the last 90 days · 65 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 10 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °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 N3554P · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.