Piper PA-23 N5799Y

Summary

On 18 February 1982 at about 02:50 local time, a Piper PA-23 registered N5799Y, operated by Four Lakes Aviation Corp, was involved in an accident near Mitchell, South Dakota, United States. 6 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

18 February 1982 at 02:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Mitchell, South Dakota, United States

Nearest airport

Mitchell Municipal (MHE)

Coordinates

43.7301, -98.0295

Aircraft

Piper PA-23

Registration

N5799Y

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Four Lakes Aviation Corp

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Waterloo → Sioux Falls

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

DEN82FA034

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

AS THE PILOT APPROACHED SIOUX FALLS HE RECEIVED INFORMATION THAT IT WAS BELOW MINIMUMS, SO HE STARTED TO DIVERT. AS HE PASSED OVER SIOUX FALLS HE COULD SEE MITCHELL, SD, WHICH APPEARED TO BE CLEAR, THEREFORE, HE ELECTED TO LAND THERE. IT CONTINUED TO LOOK CLEAR UNTIL HE WAS ON A SHORT FINAL APPROACH FOR LANDING. WITH THE LANDING LIGHT ON, HIS VISUAL REFERENCES WERE LOST. AFTER TURNING THE LANDING LIGHT OFF, HE COULD AGAIN SEE THE RUNWAY LIGHTS (AT ABOUT 20 FT AGL). AS HE DESCENDED FURTHER THE LIGHTS BECAME BARELY VISIBLE AND HE FLARED AT AN ANGLE TO THE RUNWAY. BY THIS TIME HE REALIZED HE WAS HEADED FOR THE EDGE OF THE RUNWAY BUT IT WAS TOO LATE TO CORRECT OR GO AROUND. THE PLANE TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 1/2 ON AND 1/2 OFF THE RUNWAY. AFTER TRAVELING ABOUT 20 FT IN SNOW ABOUT 6 INCHES DEEP, THE NOSE GEAR FAILED.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.