- Date
- October 3, 1997, 18:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Edgartown, MA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7742WPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 1, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971003045639A
- Case key
- 39481
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's inadequate evaluation of the wind direction and his failure to initiate a go-around. Contributing factors were the tailwind, wet runway, and utility pole.
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 he planned an approach and landing on runway 06, a wet grass runway, at the destination airport because the winds were measured by a reporting station nearby to be 080 degrees at 6 knots. The pilot landed fast and retracted the flaps upon touchdown, approximately 1/3 of the way down the runway. As the pilot applied the brakes, the airplane continued upwind off the end of the runway, and impacted telephone poles that lay on the departure end of the runway. After exiting the airplane, the pilot determined the wind to be from 225 degrees at 8 knots. There was a wind sock located on the northeast side of the field.
Factual narrative
On October 3, 1997, about 1845 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-180, N7742W, was substantially damaged when it overran the runway and collided with terrain during landing at the Katama Airpark, Edgartown, Massachusetts. The certificated private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In a telephone interview, the pilot stated he obtained a weather report from Martha's Vineyard Airport (MVY), Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, approximately 5 miles from Katama Airpark. Martha's Vineyard reported winds from 080 degrees at 6 knots, and with that information, the pilot planned an approach and landing to runway 06, a 2,700 foot long grass runway. The pilot flew the approach with full flaps and the airplane landed "...a little hot [fast]..." approximately 1/3 of the way down the runway. Upon touchdown, the pilot stated he retracted the flaps because "...the brakes supposedly work better when flaps are up". The pilot said the grass was wet, and as he applied the brakes, they were ineffective. The airplane continued towards telephone poles that lay across the departure end of the runway. The airplane impacted the poles, shearing off the nose gear and right main landing gear, coming to rest upright.
As the pilot exited the airplane after the accident, he determined the wind to be from 225 degrees at 8 knots. There was wind sock located on the northeast side of Katama Airpark.
The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7742W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-1751
- Airframe hours
- 2,672
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A3A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Townsend R. Morey Agency Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 1997 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- UUU · Newport, RI
- Destination
- 1B2
- Airport
- 1B2 · Katama Airpark Airport, runway 6, 2,700 × 50 ft, grass/turf
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
- 67
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,466 total · 1,400 in this make and model · 1,366 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 150° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MVY, 5 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.
Other investigations on N7742W · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.