Piper PA-28-181 N3077Q

Summary

On 30 August 2007 at about 17:40 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N3077Q was involved in an accident near Sevierville, Tennessee, United States. One person was 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

30 August 2007 at 17:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Sevierville, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Seymour Air Park (TN20)

Coordinates

35.8117, -83.7747

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N3077Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Oneida → Seymour

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC07LA206

Nobody was injured.

The pilot misjudged his speed and distance resulting in an overrun. Contributing to the accident was the wet turf runway and the lack of any information in the pilot operating handbook regarding landing distance on a wet turf runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the Piper PA-28 cancelled his instrument flight rules clearance and descended for a visual flight rules approach to the 2,300-foot -long turf airstrip, where he knew it had previously rained. He conducted a low pass along the runway to determine airport conditions. He observed the wind sock to be "limp," and did not see any standing water on the runway. He completed another circuit of the traffic pattern and flew a "stable approach" using full flaps. The pilot stated that on final approach he had a "normal sight picture...with sufficient runway for normal ground roll," and that touchdown occurred with 1,500 feet of runway remaining. After touchdown, the pilot recognized the reduced braking effectiveness due to the wet grass, and applied heavy braking. The airplane overran the runway, crossed a road, and impacted trees. For a dry paved runway, the landing performance charts in the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) indicated a total landing distance of approximately 1,300 feet, which included a ground roll of approximately 800 feet. The POH did not contain any qualitative or quantitative landing distance information for turf, wet, or wet turf runways.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.