Piper PA42 C-GZPU

Summary

On 13 December 2022 at about 10:06 local time, a Piper PA42 registered C-GZPU, operated by Babin Air, was involved in an accident near Lewistown, Montana, United States. 4 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

13 December 2022 at 10:06

Classification

Accident

Location

Lewistown, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Lewiston Municipal Airport (KLWT)

Coordinates

47.0493, -109.4667

Aircraft

Piper PA42

Registration

C-GZPU

Category

Airplane

Year built

1984

Engines

2

Operator

Babin Air

Operating rule

Non-U.S., Commercial

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Great Falls → Lewistown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR23LA065

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the out of service visual glideslope indicator and snow obscuring the runway markings.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight crew reported that, the instrument approach was flown on autopilot to about 700 ft above ground level until the runway was visually in sight. They were 300 ft off the runway centerline, and 1 nautical mile from the runway threshold. The visual glideslope indicator was inoperative, and the runway markings were obscured due to dry light snow. The airplane subsequently landed hard on the unusable portion of the runway, about 800 ft short of the landing threshold, and the left mail landing gear tire blew, causing the propellor to strike the runway. The airplane veered off the runway substantially damaging the left wing. The pilots reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.