Piper PA-28-140 N6784F

Summary

On 14 April 2013 at about 04:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N6784F, operated by James Clinton Grant, was involved in an accident near Livingston, Texas, 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

14 April 2013 at 04:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Livingston, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Livingston Municipal Airport (00R)

Coordinates

30.6858, -95.0178

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N6784F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

James Clinton Grant

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Houston → Gainesville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN13CA303

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's delay to not perform a go-around when he lost sight of the runway while on final approach to land at night. Contributing to the accident was the obscuration (tall grass) of the runway edge lights.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a cross country night VFR flight, the pilot decided to make a stop to refuel prior to continuing to his final destination. After overflying the airport, he entered a standard left-hand traffic pattern. The pilot stated that everything was normal until nearing his flare to land on final approach. The runway lights began to disappear from the pilot's view for an unknown reason. As the pilot caught a glance of runway markings from the airplane's landing light reflection, he added power to execute a go-around but touched down just left of the runway's asphalt surface. He stated that the touchdown was gentle, so he elected to abandon the go-around and reduced power. The airplane then contacted unseen taxi signs with the right wing and right landing gear and the left landing gear before the pilot maneuvered the airplane back onto the runway surface. The airplane sustained substantial damage to leading edge of the right wing from the contact with the taxi signs. After exiting the airplane, the pilot discovered that the grass surrounding the runway had not been cut and was waist high, which could have obscured the runway lighting as the airplane descended on short final approach. He stated that he was not able to see and avoid the taxi signs. The pilot stated after the accident that he was not expecting to lose sight of the runway lighting during final approach. He also stated that he should have made the decision to attempt a go-around sooner.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.