Piper J3C-65 N3225N

Summary

On 17 March 2012 at about 19:00 local time, a Piper J3C-65 registered N3225N was involved in an accident near Douglas, Georgia, 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

17 March 2012 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Douglas, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Douglas Municipal Airport (DQH)

Coordinates

31.4767, -82.8606

Aircraft

Piper J3C-65

Registration

N3225N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Waycross → Douglas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12CA235

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the tailwheel-equipped airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While en route to his destination airport, the pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane observed adverse weather developing and diverted to a nearby airport. The pilot stated that the landing approach was normal, but after landing, a wind gust forced the airplane to depart the runway, where the left wing contacted a runway distance remaining sign, substantially damaging the wing spar. Postaccident examination revealed no preimpact malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. A review of weather data for the accident airport revealed that the wind speed did not exceed 6 knots around the time of the accident. The pilot reported that he had accrued only 10.5 hours of flight experience in the accident airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.