- Date
- January 4, 1992, 12:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Young, AZ
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8RJPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920104000239A
- Case key
- 27530
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 failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during the landing roll. Contributing to the accident was the soft muddy runway conditions at the dirt airstrip.
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 arrived over the destination airport on top of an overcast. The pilot found a break in the overcast and descended under visual flight rules. The pilot was encountering marginal VFR conditions while under the overcast. The pilot indicated reliable radio navigation signals were lost and he elected to land at a dirt airstrip, rather than to continue flight in marginal VFR weather conditions. The airstrip's dirt runway was muddy and the airplane exited the runway on the left side where it collided with a berm on the runway shoulder collapsing the nose gear. The pilot indicated that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane before the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8RJ
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7305528
- Airframe hours
- 4,400
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Rattigan, Ronald
- Registered owner
- Rattigan, Ronald
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- SEE · El Cajon, CA
- Destination
- P13 · Globe, AZ
- Airport
- 49E · Pleasant Valley Airstrip, runway 6, dirt
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
- 24
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 84 total · 8 in this make and model · 33 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.