- Date
- January 27, 1989, 10:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Gualala, CA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4235RPiper PA-32-300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 24, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890127001329A
- Case key
- 26331
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
Pilot misjudged the altitude and distance to the runway and subsequently did not attain the proper touchdown point.
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
During a landing, the aircraft collided with terrain short of the runway. It then bounced onto the runway, went off the left side & came to rest in the dirt. The acft was damaged during the occurrence, but no preimpact part failure or malfunction was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4235R
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-40600
- Airframe hours
- 4,500
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Russell, Larry
- Registered owner
- Larry L Russell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 19, 1988 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- UKI · Ukiah, CA
- Airport
- Q69 · Gualala, runway 31, 2,500 × 100 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 660 total · 268 in this make and model · 552 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Observed at
- UKI
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 N4235R · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.