Piper PA-22-150 N3351Z

Summary

On 25 March 2010 at about 05:30 local time, a Piper PA-22-150 registered N3351Z, operated by Daniel Miller, was involved in an accident near Terry, Montana, 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

25 March 2010 at 05:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Terry, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Terry Airport (8U6)

Coordinates

46.7772, -105.3131

Aircraft

Piper PA-22-150

Registration

N3351Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Daniel Miller

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Billings Logan → New Town

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

WPR10LA180

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll in gusting winds. Contributing to the accident was a loss of engine power on final approach due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot having to divert due to deteriorating weather conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot, who elected to make a nighttime visual-flight-rules, cross-country business flight, did not acquire a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or Direct User Access Terminal weather briefing prior to departure. Instead he gathered his weather information by making a phone call to an acquaintance who was located at his destination and by checking with the FAA's Flight Watch while en route. As he proceeded toward his destination the pilot began flying over a scattered-to-broken cloud layer, which eventually turned to overcast as he neared his destination. After realizing that he would not be able to get into his planned destination, he attempted to get to another airport, but the weather also deteriorated at that airport as well. The pilot then reversed course and headed back in the direction he had come from in the hopes of finding an airport that had visual meteorological conditions (VMC). He was eventually able to descend through a hole in the clouds, but had to pass up the nearest airport because of the bad weather there. He eventually located an airport with VMC, but his airplane ran out of fuel while on a half-mile final. Although he was able to glide to the approach end of the runway, the pilot reported that he landed on the threshold and the airplane bounced once, then settled on the runway. As the tail came down, a gust of wind hit the airplane, which subsequently ground-looped and resulted in substantial damage to the lower left side longeron.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.