Piper J-3C N3371N

Summary

On 2 July 1999 at about 19:00 local time, a Piper J-3C registered N3371N was involved in an accident near Independence, Iowa, 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

2 July 1999 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Independence, Iowa, United States

Coordinates

42.4609, -91.8897

Aircraft

Piper J-3C

Registration

N3371N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hutchinson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI99LA207

Nobody was injured.

The insufficient information from the weather forecast resulting in an in-flight encounter with turbulence/gusts and the subsequent precautionary landing. Contributing factors were the gusty/turbulent conditions and the terrain condition (crop).

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported she encountered severe turbulence and wind gusts of 40 to 50 knots about 10 miles from her destination airport. She reported it became difficult to control the airplane and she reported she decided to put the airplane on the ground before she lost all control. The pilot reported the weather conditions that existed near the destination airport had not been forecast when she had checked the weather about 2.5 hours prior to the accident. She attempted to land the airplane in an oat field. The airplane was traveling about 30 mph over the ground when the airplane impacted the oat field. The airplane traveled about 10 feet when the airplane went up on its nose and sustained substantial damage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.