Piper PA 23 N1428P

Summary

On 8 January 2020 at about 23:00 local time, a Piper PA 23 registered N1428P was involved in an accident near Helena, Montana, United States. One person was 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

8 January 2020 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Helena, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Helena Rgnl (HLN)

Coordinates

46.6069, -111.9831

Aircraft

Piper PA 23

Registration

N1428P

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Helena → Helena

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR20CA066

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper decision to attempt an off-airport departure from rough terrain without inspecting the takeoff area, which resulted in a collision with a shallow rut during takeoff and the nose landing gear collapsing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that, during an instructional flight in a twin-engine airplane, which included feathering and unfeathering the left engine in flight, the left engine would not restart. The airplane was unable to maintain altitude and reach the destination airport, so he landed the airplane on a field about 1/2 mile from the airport. After the instructor successfully started the engine on the ground, the student pilot walked back to the airport, while the instructor decided to attempt an off-airport departure from the frozen ground with 4-inch-tall alfalfa stubble. He chose a takeoff path that didn't have any visible obstructions, which he estimated would allow for a 3,000-ft-long ground roll. He then taxied to the edge of the field, held the brakes, applied full power to the engines, and released the brakes, and the airplane began to move. About 700 ft into the ground roll, the airplane impacted a shallow rut from an irrigation pivot, and the nose landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the forward fuselage. The pilot reported that his decision to take off from the field was poor because he made it without first walking the takeoff terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.