Piper PA-32RT-300T N31998
16 April 2003 · St. George, Utah, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 16 April 2003 at about 01:20 local time, a Piper PA-32RT-300T registered N31998 was involved in an accident near St. George, Utah, United States. 4 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.
The record
- Date
- at 01:20
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- St. George, Utah, United States
- Nearest airport
- St. George Municipal (SGU)
- Coordinates
- 37.0914, -113.5922
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-32RT-300T
- Registration
- N31998
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Business
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Long Beach → St. George
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- DEN03LA065
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Probable cause
the pilot's improper flare technique, resulting in a hard landing that caused the nose landing gear down-lock to fail and the gear to collapse. A contributing factor was the unfavorable wind.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The pilot made a normal straight-in approach and "crossed the fence at about 80 to 90 knots." Just before touchdown, the airplane "ballooned" and touched down "a little harder than normal." The nose gear collapsed and the airplane skidded to a halt about 1,300 feet down the runway. The nose landing gear down-lock and an exemplar down-lock were sent to NTSB's materials laboratory for examination. The examination showed the down-lock "contained a fracture that intersected the hook portion." Microscopic examination revealed "a river pattern that pointed to the inner bend area of the hook, indicating that this was the origin of the fracture. The fracture face contained features typical of overstress separation, with no evidence of a preexisting (fatigue) crack. The origin area of the fracture contained no evidence of mechanical or corrosion damage. However, contact wear was noted in the throat of the hook."
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Piper PA-32RT accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Oct 2003 | Piper PA-32RT-300T | Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 21 Sep 2002 | Piper PA-32RT-300 | St. Simons Island, Georgia, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 25 Apr 2002 | Piper PA-32RT-300 | Viburnum, Missouri, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 15 Nov 2002 | Piper PA-32RT-300T | Longville, Minnesota, United States | David Stilley | Serious injuries | - |
| 21 Oct 2004 | Piper PA-32RT-300T | Guntersville, Alabama, United States | Robert Thomas Webb | Serious injuries | - |
| 20 Jul 2002 | Piper PA-32RT-300 | Atlantic Ocean, Bahamas | - | Fatal | 5 |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Jan 2003 | Yakovlev YAK 52 | Midway, Utah, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 13 Jun 2003 | Diamond DA 20-A1 | Eureka, Utah, United States | Nathan L. Bennett | Minor injuries | - |
| 1 Oct 2003 | Elliott MUSTANG II | Cedar City, Utah, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 18 Mar 2003 | Panzl PAN | Vernal, Utah, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 16 Jun 2003 | Cessna 180 | Ogden, Utah, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 6 Jul 2003 | Stinson 108-3 | Vernal, Utah, United States | - | No injuries | - |