- Date
- April 20, 1985, 15:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Prescott, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2403NPiper PA 38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850420015299A
- Case key
- 24701
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 acft departed rwy 21. The reported surface winds were 190 degs at 12 KTS gusting to 29 KTS. The acft was climbing at 200 fpm until reaching 800 ft AGL. The plt reported that he considered the climb rate as being too slow and elected to negotiate a precautionary landing in a sage brush covered field. During the landing roll the left wing struck a section of old fence post which was covered by the sage brush. The airport is surrounded by mountainous terrain and is subject to extensive downdrafts. The calculated density altitude was 6200 ft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2403N
- Reported as
- Piper PA 38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-79A0828
- Airframe hours
- 2,420
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James B. Williams
- Registered owner
- John R. Lynch, Jr
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 1985
- Destination
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
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
- 59
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,360 total · 490 in this make and model · 2,360 as pilot in command · 87 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 12 knots, gusting 29
- Visibility
- 65 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PRC, 4 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.