Piper PA-22 N615A

Summary

On 8 September 2003 at about 00:00 local time, a Piper PA-22 registered N615A was involved in an accident near Atwood, Illinois, 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

8 September 2003 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Atwood, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

39.8417, -88.4583

Aircraft

Piper PA-22

Registration

N615A

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tuscola → Atwood

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI03LA304

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to correctly identify the location of the airport. Factors to the accident include the pilot flying while fatigued, which contributed to his misidentification of the runway, and the rough/uneven soybean field.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane nosed over during a landing in a soybean field. The pilot reported he flew a traffic pattern above a soybean field that he mistakenly identified as the grass runway at IL31. The pilot stated he did not realize his mistake until the aircraft contacted the soybean crop just prior to touchdown. The pilot reported that it "was to late to go around so [he] attempted to land." During the landing attempt the airplane nosed over. The pilot stated that the soybean field in which the landing was made was approximately 1/2 mile from the accident location. The pilot stated that he was "fatigued" during the accident flight, which most likely contributed to his misidentification of the landing area. The pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented if he had verified the location of the runway while in the traffic pattern.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.