Piper PA-28-140 N5742F

Summary

On 30 August 2002 at about 13:15 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N5742F was involved in an accident near Elwood, Indiana, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 August 2002 at 13:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Elwood, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Elwood (3I1)

Coordinates

40.2528, -85.8331

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N5742F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anderson → Elwood

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI02LA265

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's misjudgment of speed/distance and his failure to perform a go-around. The pilot's inaccurate evaluation of the wind, a tailwind, selection of the wrong runway, and wet grass are contributing factors.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane contacted trees during an overrun landing. The pilot reported that during the flight, the winds seemed to be out of the south. He reported he entered the traffic pattern to land on runway 27 and there was a slight southerly wind. The pilot reported, he used 20 degrees of flaps and the airplane touched down as the indicated airspeed dropped from 70 mph to 65 mph. The pilot's last recollection prior to the accident was "braking hard." Tire tracks on grass were visible from mid-point on the runway up to the accident site. N5742F took off from the departed airport with 4 other airplanes that were all en route to the same destination. The pilots of the first two airplanes to arrive stated the windsock and tetrahedron indicated the winds were out of the east, so they landed on runway 09. N5742F was the third airplane to land. The pilot of the fourth airplane reported that the pilot of N5742F made one go-around prior to the accident landing on runway 27 in order to avoid traffic that was landing on runway 09. This fourth pilot reported that even though the windsock indicated the winds favored runway 09, he followed N5742F in landing on runway 27 to avoid conflicting traffic. He reported the winds were stronger then he thought, his landing was longer than anticipated, and he had to use "hard" braking in order to get his airplane stopped. The fifth pilot to land reported the windsock and tetrahedron indicated the winds were directly out of the east so he landed on runway 09. He stated that while he was on downwind, he saw N5742F landing downwind and the airplane was "too fast." This pilot also reported that the grass was wet. Winds reported at AID, located 13 nautical miles southeast of 3I1, at 0850 were from 090 degrees at 10 knots. Winds reported at Muncie, Indiana, located 20 nautical miles east of 3I1, at 0821 were from 100 degrees at 8 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.