Piper PA-28-140 N9887W

Summary

On 19 June 1999 at about 15:15 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N9887W was involved in an accident near Zillah, Washington, 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

19 June 1999 at 15:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Zillah, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

McMahon (68WA)

Coordinates

46.4096, -120.2298

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N9887W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Prosser → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA99LA090

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for landing adjacent to the runway. Factors include sun glare encountered at the time of the landing attempt.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot noted that the winds were calm at his destination airstrip. He approached to the east, into the morning sun, in order to land upslope on the grass airstrip. He said he positioned the plane in the center of the light green fresh mowed area, which he learned after landing was not all runway. He stated that the sun was in his eyes on final approach, obscuring details of the landing area. He touched down about 250 feet from the approach end with full flaps and a touch of power, using standard soft field techniques. The airplane slid down the side slope to the left and would not respond to right rudder inputs, until the left wing contacted a large wooden fence post and about four feet of the left wingtip separated. He stated that the day before the flight he obtained an airport briefing from a local pilot familiar with the airport. Sun azimuth at the time of the accident was 109.9; elevation was 49.4 degrees.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.