Piper PA-32-260 N3331W

Summary

On 20 May 2004 at about 22:15 local time, a Piper PA-32-260 registered N3331W, operated by Ricky C. Unger, was involved in an accident near Venice, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 May 2004 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Venice, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Venice Municipal (KVNC)

Coordinates

27.0692, -82.4406

Aircraft

Piper PA-32-260

Registration

N3331W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Ricky C. Unger

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Venice → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA04FA086

1 person died.

Failure of the pilot to recover from an improper landing flare resulting in his failure to maintain airspeed (Vs), an inadvertant stall, loss of control, and inflight collision with terrain during an uncontrolled descent.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot's wife stated that at the time of the accident she was at the Venice Airport, standing near the hangar where they keep the airplane. She observed her husband doing touch and go landings to runway 22. Just prior to the accident her husband approached to land on runway 22. The airplane never touched down on the runway. As the airplane neared the runway she observed it do a slight lift back up to about the height of a 2 1/2 story building. The right wing then raised up and the left wing dropped down. She stopped watching the airplane and ran to a person at another hangar to call for help. She does not recall the engine sounds. There were some other airplanes taking off before her husband but they had left the area. At the time of the accident there were no other airplanes flying in the area. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any discrepancies with the aircraft structure, flight controls, aircraft systems, engine assembly, engine components, or propeller. Postmortem examination of the pilot and toxicology testing showed no evidence which could be considered causal to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.