Piper PA-28R-200 N9466K

Summary

On 10 November 2001 at about 04:15 local time, a Piper PA-28R-200 registered N9466K, operated by Spanaflight, Inc., was involved in an accident near Puyallup, Washington, 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

10 November 2001 at 04:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Puyallup, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Pierce Co-Thun Field (1S0)

Coordinates

47.1008, -122.3192

Aircraft

Piper PA-28R-200

Registration

N9466K

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Spanaflight, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Puyallup → Puyallup

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

SEA02LA016

Nobody was injured.

The pilots' failure to maintain aircraft control on short final, resulting in a touchdown off of the prepared landing surface. A factor was grassy terrain encountered on the landing rollout.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilots reported that while the accident aircraft was on downwind, a light helicopter (believed to be a Robinson R22) entered final approach. The flight instructor reported that the helicopter cleared the active runway "about one-half to one-quarter mile before our touchdown." The trainee stated that after clearing the runway, the helicopter moved right to the parallel taxiway, approximately 180 feet from the runway. The pilots reported that approximately 200 to 300 feet past the runway threshold, the aircraft suddenly rolled right, yawed right, and sank, and that despite control inputs to attempt to counter these motions, the aircraft touched down right-wing-low in the grass adjacent to the runway. The pilots elected to continue the landing rollout in the grass. During the landing rollout, the aircraft's nose gear failed. The instructor indicated that no mechanical malfunction or failure was involved in the accident. An R22 on the parallel taxiway at the north end of the airport is approximately 7 main rotor diameters from the runway, well outside the three main rotor diameters specified by the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) for rotor wash avoidance from a helicopter in a slow hover taxi or stationary hover. The accident aircraft's maximum gross weight is also approximately twice that of the R22. Dark night visual meteorological conditions, with calm winds, were reported by the flight instructor.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.