- Date
- February 17, 2008, 14:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Kalispell, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5481TPiper PA-32-300
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080217011019A
- Case key
- 67537
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 maintain alignment with the runway while landing and executing a go-around.
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 flared high, and the airplane bounced during the landing attempt. The initial touchdown was 10-12 feet right of the runway centerline. The pilot applied power to initiate a go-around, and the airplane continued to drift right as it lifted off. The airplane's right main wheel was approximately 1 foot right of the runway edge when the right wing struck a pile of ice and snow.
Factual narrative
On February 17, 2008, at 1400 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-32-300, N5481T, veered of the runway and struck a snow bank at Kalispell City Airport, Kalispell, Montana. The private pilot operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot and single passenger were not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated at Glacier Park International Airport, Kalispell, about 1345.
The pilot stated in the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report that while landing at Kalispell City Airport, he flared high and bounced during the landing attempt. The airplanes initial touchdown was 10-12 feet right of the runway centerline. The pilot applied power to initiate a go-around. The airplane's right main wheel was approximately 1 foot right of the runway edge when the right wing struck a pile of ice and snow.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5481T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-7240107
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1A5, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Steven Weggeland
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KGPI · Kalispell, MT
- Destination
- KS27 · Kalispell, MT
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- KS27 · Kalispell City Airport, runway 13, 3,600 × 60 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 65 total · 17 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KGPI
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.