Piper PA-24-250 N6107P

Summary

On 14 October 2000 at about 18:02 local time, a Piper PA-24-250 registered N6107P was involved in an accident near Manhattan, Kansas, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 October 2000 at 18:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Manhattan, Kansas, United States

Nearest airport

Private (NONE)

Coordinates

39.1908, -96.5903

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-250

Registration

N6107P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Topeka

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI01LA012

1 person was seriously injured.

the inadequate soft field takeoff procedure by the pilot and his failure to abort the takeoff. Factors were the high grass on the runway, the pilots disregard for the runway conditions, his lack of total experience in the aircraft, the trees, and the pilots failure to maintain clearance from the trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was destroyed on impact with trees and terrain during initial climb after takeoff from a private airstrip. The runway is oriented in a predominantly north/south direction, and is about 1600 feet in length. The takeoff was executed to the north. The ferry flight was being conducted for the purpose of relocating the aircraft so that maintenance could be performed. A postaccident examination of the accident scene revealed no anomalies that could be associated with a preexisting condition with respect to the aircraft. The grass strip runway was found to have 3-4 inch long grass. The length of the runway was found to be about 0.3 miles long by driving its length with an automobile. A videotape of the accident flight shows that during the takeoff roll the aircraft tail was drug along the runway twice. After initially becoming airborne, the aircraft settled back onto the runway before becoming airborne again. The airplane started an increasingly steep bank to the right before contacting the trees at the departure end of the runway. In a written statement, the pilot said, "We took off down runway-900-ft-hit ruts airplane bounced into air-held nose down to build airspeed-ro[t]ated to late hit trees." In his written report, the pilot listed no mechanical malfunction. In the report, the pilot listed his flight experience in this make and model of aircraft as "None".

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.