- Date
- September 26, 1989, 13:21 local (20:21 UTC)
- Place
- Portland, OR
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3660WPiper PA-32-260
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890926036199A
- Case key
- 41085
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 poor inflight planning. Contributing to the accident was the wake turbulence and remedial action not possible.
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
At the end of a cross country flight, approaching the airport, the pilot was cleared to land and cautioned of wake turbulence from a large airplane landing ahead of the accident airplane. The pilot was instructed to keep a tight pattern and follow the large airplane. While on short final the accident airplane encountered the wake turbulence of the large airplane. The pilot was unable to maintain control and collided with the terrain short of the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3660W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-260
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-567
- Airframe hours
- 5,455
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-E4B5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Nepple, John G.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 8, 1989 · 53 hours before
- Departed
- YVR · Vancouver, OF
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- PDX · Portland, runway 28R, 8,004 × 150 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
- 45
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,800 total · 400 in this make and model · 5,500 as pilot in command · 194 in the last 90 days · 51 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PDX
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.