Piper PA-28-180 N8205W

Summary

On 7 March 2003 at about 21:05 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N8205W was involved in an accident near Richfield, Utah, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 March 2003 at 21:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Richfield, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Richfield Municipal Airport (RIF)

Coordinates

38.7501, -112.1001

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N8205W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Montrose → Richfield

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN03LA046

1 person had minor injuries.

the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during landing roll resulting in a ground loop/swerve and subsequent nose over. A contributing factor was the gusty wind conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was on a return flight and stated that he received an AWOS weather update. He entered the left downwind and attempted to land on 19. As he began to flare, he encountered a gust of wind from the west. He added power for a go-around and then set up for a landing on runway 01. The touchdown on runway 01 was "normal," but during the landing roll, a gust of wind caught the left wing. He said it "felt like the nose landing gear was skidding across the runway." He attempted to regain control and correct this by adding "full rudder." He thought of applying full power for a go-around, but he felt he was going too slow. The airplane veered off the right side of the runway. After leaving the runway, the nose landing gear "seemed to collapse." The right wing tip struck the ground and the airplane nosed over. In a telephone interview, the pilot stated that the winds were approximately 270 degrees at 12 knots gusting to 28 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.