Piper PA-28R-200 N32105

Summary

On 9 August 2009 at about 16:15 local time, a Piper PA-28R-200 registered N32105, operated by William Colins, Jerry Walker, Kenneth Whitham, was involved in an accident near Gerlach, Nevada, United States. 3 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

9 August 2009 at 16:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Gerlach, Nevada, United States

Nearest airport

Soldier Meadows Ranch (NV06)

Coordinates

41.3825, -119.1697

Aircraft

Piper PA-28R-200

Registration

N32105

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

William Colins, Jerry Walker, Kenneth Whitham

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gerlach → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09LA401

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s delay in aborting the takeoff, resulting in a runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during takeoff on the hard dirt surface airstrip, the airplane did not reach 60 mph when he saw the end of the runway markers and he proceeded to shutdown the engine. To avoid a collision with a fence approximately 300 feet beyond the end of the runway, the pilot directed the airplane to the left, off the side of the runway into heavy vegetation. The fuselage, wing spars, and horizontal stabilator were substantially damaged during the excursion from the runway. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the wreckage at the airstrip and measured track marks leading up to the wreckage. The inspector reported that the takeoff roll began abeam the windsock, located about 300 feet from the beginning of the airstrip. Before the midfield point, tire tracks veered to the right into the grass and then continued parallel with, and adjacent to, the runway surface. About 2,790 feet from the windsock and 1,041 feet from the end of the runway, the airplane collided with a set of white-painted tires off the runway edge. The track then continued back to the left across the runway, into heavy brush and rough terrain. The inspector measured a maximum runway length of 4,131 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.