Piper PA-32R-301T N73BL

Summary

On 4 February 2008 at about 18:30 local time, a Piper PA-32R-301T registered N73BL was involved in an accident near Parowan, Utah, 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

4 February 2008 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Parowan, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Parowan Airport (1L9)

Coordinates

37.8597, -112.8161

Aircraft

Piper PA-32R-301T

Registration

N73BL

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Las Vegas → Parowan

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA08LA069

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper in-flight decision not to over fly/inspect the snow covered runway prior to landing, and his failure to align the airplane over the centerline of the runway. Contributing to the accident was the snow covered runway, the airport operator's failure to properly plow and clear the runway, and hidden obstructions (previously plowed snow) under the freshly fallen snow.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a landing on a runway covered by about two to three inches of freshly fallen snow, one of the airplane's main landing gear impacted a snow covered mound of previously plowed snow that had hardened. That impact threw the airplane sideways, whereupon it collided with more of the previously plowed and hardened snow, resulting in the collapse of all the landing gear struts. The investigation determined that the last time that the runway was plowed, the snow had not been cleared all the way to the edge of the runway's paved surface, and there was therefore piles of previously plowed snow on the outer portions of the runway surface. Some of that snow was located 10 to 12 feet inboard of the edge of the runway surface. When the new snow fell, it became very hard to distinguish between the area where the previously cleared surface was covered only by the newly fallen snow, and the area where the chunks of previously plowed snow had piled up, hardened, and then been covered by the new snow. The pilot departed the same airport two days before the accident, and had seen the condition of the partially plowed runway. When he returned for landing on the day of the accident, he assumed that the old snow had been cleared away prior to the new snow falling, and that the entire runway was then covered only with the two to three inches of freshly fallen snow. Because he made that assumption, the pilot did not take advantage of the opportunity to perform a low approach and inspect the entire runway surface prior to landing. Soon after the airplane touched down, the pilot realized that the previously plowed snow was still on the edges of the runway, and that he had not touched down on the centerline. The pilot saw the chunks of snow-covered old snow prior to the impact, but before he could take remedial action, one of the airplane's main gear collided with a chunk of hardened old snow, and the accident sequence was initiated.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.