- Date
- July 16, 1996, 10:16 local (14:16 UTC)
- Place
- Georgetown, SC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1544PPiper PA-22-135
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 4, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960716017879A
- Case key
- 38054
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
failure of the pilot to see-and-avoid an obstruction on the ground (inadequate visual lookout) during a precautionary landing, which resulted in a collapsed nose gear and subsequent nose over. Factors relating to the accident were: the adverse weather conditions, and the pilot becaming lost/disoriented.
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 pilot stated that he became disoriented, while circumnavigating weather with a low ceiling. He then made a precautionary landing in an open field. During the landing, the airplane collided with a 5 gallon water pump tank, collapsing the nose wheel. The airplane then nosed over and came to rest inverted.
Factual narrative
On July 16, 1996, about 1016 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-22-135, N1544P, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed on landing rollout during a precautionary landing in the vicinity of Georgetown, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The private pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, about 1 hour 16 minutes before the accident.
The pilot stated that he became disoriented while circumnavigating weather with about a 1,100-foot ceiling. He made a precautionary landing to an open field, collided with a 5- gallon water pump tank, collapsing the nose wheel. The airplane nosed over and came to a complete stop inverted .
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1544P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22-135
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-2407
- Airframe hours
- 2,750
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D2, 135 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Freddie J. Pyle
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 4, 1995 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- 8S5 · Mt Pleasant, SC
- Destination
- HWY · Conway, SC
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
- 68
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,100 total · 100 in this make and model · 2,100 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 77 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CRE, 30 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.