Piper PA-32RT-300 N300WE

Summary

On 29 December 2004 at about 19:00 local time, a Piper PA-32RT-300 registered N300WE, operated by William Reiter, was involved in an accident near Johnstown, New York, 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.

Date

29 December 2004 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Johnstown, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Fulton County (NYO)

Coordinates

42.9981, -74.3294

Aircraft

Piper PA-32RT-300

Registration

N300WE

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

William Reiter

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Coatesville → Johnstown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC05CA037

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in airframe ice with subsequent degradation of aircraft performance, and inadequate airspeed during the landing flare.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

As the pilot was performing the GPS approach to runway 28, ice accumulated on the airplane. He broke out of the clouds at an altitude of 1,600 feet; however, he had difficulty visually identifying the runway, due to the snow cover on the ground. The pilot stated he was at an airspeed of 100 knots (about 65% power) while on short final, and as he reached the runway threshold, he "cut the power," and applied the third notch of flaps. The airplane then "stalled," and landed hard on the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.