Piper PA-28-140 N6216W

Summary

On 23 May 1999 at about 19:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N6216W was involved in an accident near Lyman, Washington, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 May 1999 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Lyman, Washington, United States

Coordinates

48.5206, -122.0707

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N6216W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Acme

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA99LA069

Nobody was injured.

The pilot-in-command's improper execution of takeoff procedures, and his delay in aborting the takeoff. Contributing factors were the fence post and trees.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he initiated takeoff from a field of three inch high grass utilizing short field takeoff procedures and with the flaps retracted. As he approached the upwind end of the 1,680 foot field he applied '1 notch (10 degrees) of flaps' and then 'waited until the end and then pulled the plane in the air.' A witness reported observing the aircraft's flaps 'at 0 degrees' and that 'the aircraft was maintaining a high angle of attack and not climbing upon rotation from the runway. It continued in this attitude at about 5 feet off the ground until one of the main landing gear wheels hit a fence post on the airport boundary fence.' The pilot reported that 'about 500' or so from the tree line I could see there was just no way to get over the trees or build enough airspeed, so I pulled all power and landed in what room was left. [I] applied full brakes, then I could tell I wasn't going to stop in time, so I turned the airplane just a little to the left & crashed between 2 trees which pulled the wings off.' The Owner's Handbook for the PA-28-140 stated that both 'short field' and 'soft field' takeoffs should be conducted with two notches of flaps (25 degrees) and that 'Premature or excessive raising of the nose will result in a delayed take-off. After take-off let the aircraft accelerate to the desired climb speed by lowering the nose slightly.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.