N5078W

On October 12, 1998, at 1445 hours Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-28, N5078W, sustained substantial damage during landing at Carson City, Nevada. The commercial pilot and his wife were not injured. The aircraft was operated by ATC Corporation, Pasadena, California, under 14 CFR Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight. The pilot obtained a weather briefing over the Internet. The aircraft departed from El Monte, California, and made an intermediate stop in Bishop, California.

The pilot stated that UNICOM advised him the winds were calm and he elected to land on runway 27. He did not recall looking at a windsock. He stated he experienced some turbulence and crosswind at touchdown. The right main landing gear collapsed and separated from the aircraft and the right wing was bent after it contacted the ground. The aircraft departed the runway and crossed a drainage ditch before coming to rest. An inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration noted that both blades of the propeller were bent, the nose gear was buckled, and the right horizontal stabilizer was damaged. Additionally, the firewall and bottom of the fuselage were buckled.

A man working in his office at the airport saw the airplane in the landing pattern and observed that the airplane was going to land with a quartering tailwind. He stated that a hill northeast of the airport is known by local pilots to disturb the air for this approach when the winds are from the northeast.