Piper PA-36-285 N57625

Summary

On 12 June 2009 at about 15:15 local time, a Piper PA-36-285 registered N57625, operated by Douglas M. Hansen, was involved in an accident near Clark, South Dakota, 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

12 June 2009 at 15:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Clark, South Dakota, United States

Coordinates

44.8947, -97.7111

Aircraft

Piper PA-36-285

Registration

N57625

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Douglas M. Hansen

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Clark → Clark

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09CA616

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate visual lookout and failure to maintain clearance from a levy.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The aerial application pilot reported that he was setting navigational equipment while en route to a field to spray. He stated that he became fixated on the unit. He said, “at the end of the field was a levy with a road on top of it. I noticed this too late and impacted the landing gear of the aircraft at the top of the levy. The airplane continued to fly and I knew I had hit something.” Review of photographs of the airplane showed that structural tubing was torn away from the fuselage tubing and the torn structure remained attached to the separated landing gear.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.