Summary
On September 30, 1994, a Piper PA-39 (N8901Y) was involved in an incident near Andrews, TX. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO INITIATE A GO-AROUND AFTER ENCOUNTERING A TAILWIND. A FACTOR WAS THE TAILWIND.
On September 30, 1994, at 1700 central daylight time, a Piper PA-39, N8901Y, was substantially damaged during landing at Andrews County Airport, Andrews, Texas. The private pilot and passenger were uninjured. There was no flight plan filed for the business cross country flight and visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
The pilot reported the following information. Prior to departure from Dexter, New Mexico, Roswell Flight Service Station was contacted and NOTAMs concerning Andrews County Airport requested. The only NOTAM reported was a 1,500 foot displacement of the threshold of runway 12. After flying to Andrews County, the pilot contacted Unicom and was informed that runways 15-33 and 2- 20 were closed and that winds were 10 knots at 200 degrees.
This incident is documented in NTSB report FTW94LA320. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N8901Y.
Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO INITIATE A GO-AROUND AFTER ENCOUNTERING A TAILWIND. A FACTOR WAS THE TAILWIND.
Aircraft Information
Analysis
On September 30, 1994, at 1700 central daylight time, a Piper PA-39, N8901Y, was substantially damaged during landing at Andrews County Airport, Andrews, Texas. The private pilot and passenger were uninjured. There was no flight plan filed for the business cross country flight and visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
The pilot reported the following information. Prior to departure from Dexter, New Mexico, Roswell Flight Service Station was contacted and NOTAMs concerning Andrews County Airport requested. The only NOTAM reported was a 1,500 foot displacement of the threshold of runway 12. After flying to Andrews County, the pilot contacted Unicom and was informed that runways 15-33 and 2- 20 were closed and that winds were 10 knots at 200 degrees. He elected to land on runway 30 and calculated a usable runway length of 2,171 feet. On short final, the pilot noted that his groundspeed increased due to a wind shift from a crosswind to a quartering tailwind. The pilot stated that his "touchdown was long." After touching down, he "realized that the runway was shorter than had been reported." According to the pilot, the threshold of runway 12 had been displaced 1,800 feet, not 1,500 feet as he expected.
The pilot was not able to stop the aircraft before it entered the closed section of the runway. This section of runway was closed due to construction activity, specifically, two 4 inch deep cuts had been made across the runway where it intersected another runway and a taxiway. The impact with the second cut caused the right main landing gear to separate from the airplane.
San Angelo Flight Service Station reported the following NOTAMs on file for Andrews County Airport on the date of the accident: runway 2-20 closed, runway 15-33 closed, runway 12-30 southeast 1811 feet closed. The NOTAMS concerning runways 2-20 and 15-33 were published on 9/28/94. The airport manager reported the following runway status on the date of the accident: runway 2-20 closed, runway 15-33 closed, runway 12-30 southeast 1811 feet open.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# FTW94LA320