- Date
- July 12, 1987, 20:20 local (Jul 13, 1987, 00:20 UTC)
- Place
- Huntingdon, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N33576Piper J3C-65
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870712083329A
- Case key
- 30694
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 flight encountered poor visibility while at cruise altitude. The pilot decided not to continue flight and landed on a football field. During roll out, the right main gear fell into a drain hole to the side of the field causing the aircraft to turn right about 45 degrees. The plane continued to roll and collided with the bleachers. The pilot had received a weather briefing during which he was advised of the possibility of thunderstorms. The pilot continued until a 180 degree turn was no longer possible to remove him from deteriorating weather conditions. The plt did not file an acc report.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N33576
- Reported as
- Piper J3C-65
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 14053
- Engine
- Continental A-65-8, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Rhett A. Grotzinger
- Registered owner
- Wes Kyle
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Latrobe, PA
- Destination
- LHV · Lock Haven, PA
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
- 29
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 529 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 3 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 18,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- A00, 18 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.