- Date
- July 18, 2017, 18:20 local (22:20 UTC)
- Place
- Breckenridge, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9807DPiper PA 22
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 15, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20170718012499A
- Case key
- 95605
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 loss of situational awareness during the approach over a corn field, which resulted in collision with corn stalks.
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
The pilot reported that he was practicing short-field, touch-and-go landings on the private grass airstrip. The final leg of the approach was over a cornfield and a road perpendicular to the approach end of the airstrip. During final, the main landing gear (MLG) struck corn stalks that were about 6-ft tall. The airplane then landed short and struck the road. The right MLG collapsed, and the airplane slid across the road and onto the grass airstrip. The airplane's nose dug into the grass and dirt, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing strut and the rudder. The pilot reported that "this accident was pilot error" and that he believed that he became "fixated on the beginning of the grass and was oblivious to the height of the corn." The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was practicing short-field, touch and go landings on the private grass airstrip. The final leg of the approach was over a cornfield and a road perpendicular to the approach end of the airstrip. During final, the main landing gear struck corn stalks that were about 6-feet tall, the airplane landed short and struck the road. The right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane slid across the road and onto the grass airstrip. The nose of the airplane dug into the grass and dirt, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing strut and the rudder. The pilot reported that, "This accident was pilot error" and that, "I believe that I fixated on the beginning of the grass and was oblivious to the height of the corn." The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9807D
- Reported as
- Piper PA 22
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-6694
- Built
- 1959
- Airframe hours
- 2,526
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 2016
- Departed
- PVT · Breckenridge, MI
- Destination
- PVT · Breckenridge, MI
- Airport
- PVT · Ron's Private strip, runway 27, 2,600 × 65 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 79
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Sport pilot, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 22, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 2,100 total · 450 in this make and model · 1,985 as pilot in command · 3.5 in the last 90 days · 0.6 in the last 30 days · 0.1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KSRC, 32 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 27, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 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.
Other investigations on N9807D · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.