- Date
- January 10, 1994, 14:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Monticello, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3999ZPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 14, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940110000269A
- Case key
- 38728
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 pilot allowed the speed of the airplane to get too slow, resulting in an inadvertent stall at too low an altitude to allow recovery.
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 was attempting a short field approach and landing. On short final the airplane stalled, struck a fence, and a snowbank. The airplane then nosed over foreward and slid about 15 feet before coming to a full stop.
Factual narrative
On Monday, January 10, 1994, at about 1445 eastern standard time, a Piper PA18, N3999Z, piloted by Mr. David Preston, collided with a fence while landing at the Sullivan County Airport, Monticello, New York. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91.
According to the pilot's statement on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2:
...flew to N37 [Monticello] and attempting short field approach. Aircraft stalled on final approach and struck fence and snow bank on runway 33. Aircraft flipped over forward and slid about 15' to full stop.
Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no discrepancies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3999Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7934
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James Gaston
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 15, 1993 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- ESN · Easton, MD
- Airport
- N37 · Monticello, runway 33, 2,085 × 24 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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 175 total · 32 in this make and model · 11 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 18 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ALB, 50 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.