- Date
- May 11, 2011, 11:45 local (15:45 UTC)
- Place
- Clayton, NY
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4760PPiper PA-23-250
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing area undershoot
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 3, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110511012219A
- Case key
- 79083
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 obtain a proper touchdown point while landing with a gusting tailwind.
Findings · 3
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
According to the pilot, the airplane was about to touch down when a gust of wind caused the left wing to drop toward the ground. The wing impacted the ground and skidded on the turf runway. Subsequently, the airplane came to rest and was engulfed in flames, which resulted in substantial damage. The airplane landed approximately 150 feet prior to the turf runway’s threshold. The wind, recorded at an airport 12 miles to the south about the time of the accident, was from 030 degrees at 10 knots with gusts to 19 knots. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions of the airplane at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot's written statement, the airplane was about to touchdown when a gust of wind caused the left wing to drop toward the ground. The wing impacted the ground, and skidded on the turf runway. Subsequently, the airplane came to rest and was engulfed in flames which resulted in substantial damage. According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector that responded to the accident site, the airplane landed approximately 150 feet prior to the turf runway threshold. Winds recorded at an airport 12 miles to the south, about the time of the accident, were from 030 degrees at 10 knots with gusts of 19 knots. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions of the airplane at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4760P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 27-301
- Airframe hours
- 4,174
- Engines
- Lycoming O-540 SERIES, 250 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming 0-540 SERIES, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 11, 2011 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- HWV · Brookhaven, NY
- Destination
- 28NK · Clayton, NY
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- 28NK · Ritchie Airfield, runway 25, 2,000 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 14, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 750 total · 230 in this make and model · 700 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 10 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- ART, 12 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 20, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.0 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.