- Date
- September 17, 2018, 18:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hillsdale, MI
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3544APiper PA22
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 8, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180917013779A
- Case key
- 98320
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 exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during the landing flare, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
Findings · 2
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, during landing, he flared too high, and the airplane aerodynamically stalled. He added that the airplane landed hard, the nose landing gear collapsed, the airplane veered right off the runway into the dirt, and it then nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the fuselage, and the empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, during landing, he flared too high and the airplane aerodynamically stalled. He added that the airplane landed hard, the nose landing gear collapsed, the airplane veered to the right off the runway into the dirt and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3544A
- Reported as
- Piper PA22 (135)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-1818
- Built
- 1954
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D2, 135 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- JYM · Hillsdale, MI
- Destination
- JYM · Hillsdale, MI
- Airport
- JYM · Hillsdale Muni, runway 10, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 68
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Right
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- KJYM
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 12, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.2 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.