Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
THE INADEQUATE SUPERVISION BY THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT DURING THE LANDING, RESULTING IN THE IMPROPER RUNWAY ALIGNMENT BY THE STUDENT PILOT, AND THE SUBSEQUENT COLLISION WITH A SNOWBANK. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE INCOMPLETE RUNWAY SNOW REMOVAL.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On Tuesday, March 15, 1994, at 2148 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-32-300, N7303R, piloted by Julius Johannes Laenen, sustained substantial damage during a landing at the Norwood Memorial Airport, Norwood, Massachusetts. The two pilots were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR flight plan was filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91.
The instructor, Mr. Laenen, and student, Karl Karlson, were completing an instructional flight. The student conducted the landing on runway 35, which is 150 feet wide, but only about 95 feet had been plowed of snow. During the landing, the airplane impacted a snow bank, sheared the landing gear and damaged the fuselage.
In his written statement, the instructor said:
Runway had not been plowed inside the runway lights and snow was piled up on both sides of runway (left greater than the right side). The snow was not visible on the runway between the bright runway lights.
Mr. James W.R. Volner, Aviation Safety Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, stated in his report:
Since the landing was being made [in] darkness ...the cleared portion of the runway's asphalt surface was very black. The remaining snow plowed on the runway edge gave a more visually "reflective" surface which afforded the flying pilot better landing clues....The deceptively widely spaced low intensity runway edge lights may have added to the appearance of an acceptable landing area width. On the other hand...both of the crew...were based at Norwood and had departed from the same runway an hour earlier....
Just after crossing the airport boundary...the flying pilot flew to the left landing in the snow. The snowbank was not visible to the instructor pilot in the right seat, who warned the flying pilot [that the] aircraft was drifting left just before touchdown.
The airport has the capability to only plow the snow [on] the runway. Should the runway be plowed full width, the snow would be pushed on to and cover the low intensity runway lights. There are no center line lights....the airport manager [stated that] if the airport had a snow blower, he would be able to clean the runway to full width.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# NYC94LA059