Piper PA-32-300 N4033W

Summary

On 24 October 2001 at about 19:15 local time, a Piper PA-32-300 registered N4033W was involved in an accident near Lake Wales, Florida, United States. 2 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

24 October 2001 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake Wales, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Private Strip (PVT)

Coordinates

27.9503, -81.5997

Aircraft

Piper PA-32-300

Registration

N4033W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Vandenburg → Lake Wales

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL02LA005

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper decision to land on a wet sod runway which resulted in a loss of directional control during landing. Factors were the wet grass strip which allowed the airplane to hydroplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, while landing on a private grass strip, the airplane hydroplaned and veered off the left side of the runway striking a fence. The pilot said that it had rained earlier and the grass strip was wet with some standing water. The pilot did not report over flying the grass strip prior to landing to determine the landing surface condition.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.