- Date
- March 5, 2000, 12:27 local (20:27 UTC)
- Place
- Palo Alto, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N43412Piper PA-46-310
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 17, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000305010139A
- Case key
- 48783
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/maintain the proper visual glide path resulting in an undershoot and collision with the runway edge.
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
The airplane landed approximately 2 feet short of the runway, and then struck the lip of the pavement, which sheered off the left main gear. The gear itself hung onto the trunnion by the brake lines until the airplane came to rest, approximately 600 feet down the runway. Additionally, the airplane struck a taxiway sign with the left wing while it was traveling down the runway. The pilot told investigators that he was planning on landing on runway 30 and was using 85 knots as his target speed. He said that about 100 feet agl he noticed that he had an excessive sink rate and noticed that his airspeed was about 97 knots. He decided to trade his airspeed to cut the sink rate and said by the time he noticed it wasn't working, he was already on the ground.
Factual narrative
On March 5, 2000, at 1227 hours Pacific standard time, a Piper PA-46-310, N43412, collided with terrain short of runway 30 at Palo Alto, California. The airplane, owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The airline transport pilot and his passenger were not injured. No flight plan was filed for the pleasure flight. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 91, and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight had departed from Santa Rosa, California, at 1115, and was destined for Palo Alto.
According to the pilot, the airplane landed approximately 2 feet short of the runway, and then struck the lip of the pavement, which sheered off the left main gear. The gear itself hung onto the trunnion by the brake lines until the airplane came to rest approximately 600 feet down the runway. Additionally, the airplane struck a taxiway sign with the left wing while it was traveling down the runway.
The pilot told investigators that he was planning on landing on runway 30 and was using 85 knots as his target speed. He said that about 100 feet agl he noticed that he had an excessive sink rate and noticed that his airspeed was about 97 knots. He decided to trade his airspeed to cut the sink rate and said by the time he noticed it wasn't working, he was already on the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43412
- Reported as
- Piper PA-46-310
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 8408034
- Airframe hours
- 1,923
- Engine
- Continental TSIO520 BE1G, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Joseph J. Grzebik
- Registered owner
- Joseph J. Grzebik
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 2, 1999 · 66 hours before
- Departed
- STS · Santa Rosa, CA
- Destination
- PAO
- Airport
- PAO · Palo Alto, runway 30, 2,500 × 65 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
- 58
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 10,000 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 10,000 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KPA, 1 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.