- Date
- April 30, 2009, 13:05 local (17:05 UTC)
- Place
- Great Barrington, MA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8034YPiper PA-30
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Runway excursion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 28, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090430009299A
- Case key
- 73759
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 improper decision to land with a tailwind.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot was flying to the accident airport to have scheduled maintenance accomplished on the airplane's cabin heater. The airplane approached Runway 29, a 2,579-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, asphalt runway. While crossing the runway threshold, the pilot felt that the "ground speed was faster" than he thought. After touching down "about one-third down" the runway, the pilot utilized maximum braking and instead of running off the end of the runway, he elected to "ground loop" the airplane. The airplane veered to the right, departed the paved portion of the runway, and slid down into a ditch approximately 20 feet from the edge of the runway, damaging the left wing spar. The pilot also reported that, after exiting the airplane, the windsock was varying; however, it appeared to be indicating a quartering tailwind. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector confirmed continuity to all control surfaces and damage to the outboard section of the wing spar. The recorded wind at an airport located about 15 miles north of the accident site, about the time of the accident, was variable at 3 knots, gusting to 19 knots.
Factual narrative
The pilot was flying to the accident airport to have scheduled maintenance accomplished on the airplane's cabin heater. The airplane approached runway 29, a 2,579-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, asphalt runway. While crossing the runway threshold, the pilot felt that the "ground speed was faster" than he thought. After touching down "about one-third down" the runway, the pilot utilized maximum braking and instead of running off the end of the runway, he elected to "ground loop" the airplane. The airplane veered to the right, departed the paved portion of the runway, and slid down into a ditch approximately 20 feet from the edge of the runway, damaging the left wing spar. The pilot also reported that after exiting the airplane the windsock was varying; however, it appeared to be indicating a quartering tailwind. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector confirmed continuity to all control surfaces and damage to the outboard section of the wing spar. The recorded wind at an airport located about 15 miles north of the accident site, about the time of the accident, was variable at 3 knots, gusting to 19 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8034Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-30
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30-1143
- Airframe hours
- 6,382
- Engines
- Lycoming IO-320-C1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming IO-320-C1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fred Kantor
- Registered owner
- Questair
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 21, 2009
- Departed
- HVN · New Haven, CT
- Destination
- GBR · Great Barrington, MA
- Airport
- GBR · Walter J. Koladza Airport, runway 29, 2,579 × 50 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
- 77
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 13, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,569 total · 4,417 in this make and model · 4,898 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.31 inHg
- Observed at
- PSF, 15 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.