- Date
- August 19, 1990, 21:24 local (Aug 20, 1990, 03:24 UTC)
- Place
- Kalispell, MT
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8556YPiper PA-30-160
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report October 20, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900819033909A
- Case key
- 41123
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 flare the aircraft for landing and to maintain its control during the attempted go-around (aborted landing). Factors related to the accident were: darkness, a number of runway edge lights that were either inoperative or hidden by vegegation, rain, reduced visual cues, the pilot's lack of recent night flying experience, and his failure to attain proper runway alignment.
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 plt made a VFR apch to lnd at ngt on rwy 31. According to witness(es), there was a tstm south of the arpt, but at the arpt, the wnd was lgt & only lgt rain was falling. As the plt was lndg, the acft impacted on the apch end of the rwy, then became airborne & impacted again, further down the rwy. An exam revealed that initial impact was 29' fm the threshold. The initial scrape mark was angled 10 deg right of the rwy hdg. There was evidence that the left wing tip contacted the rwy nr the apch end, then the tips of the left prop blades struck the rwy. The acft then became airborne & crashed inverted after traveling about 613' down the rwy. The blade tips of both props were twisted & curled; there were slash marks on the rwy from both props at the 2nd impact point, where the acft had impacted in an inverted attitude. Of 62 rwy edge lgts, 20 were inop or broken & 2 were not visible due to tall vegetation. The last recorded ngt time in the plt's log was dated 5/5/81.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8556Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-30-160
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30-1703
- Airframe hours
- 1,625
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320-C1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Flathead Beverage Co.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 6, 1990 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- PWT · Bremerton, WA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- S27 · Kalispell City, runway 31, 3,600 × 60 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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,344 total · 180 in this make and model · 1,280 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FCA, 10 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.