N7630D

On September 22, 2001, at 1359 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-22-150, N7630D, was substantially damaged during a precautionary landing at the Harding County Airport (I95), Kenton, Ohio. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the ferry flight that departed Huntington Municipal Airport (HHG), Huntington, Indiana, destined for Valley Point Airport (WV29), Valley Point, West Virginia. No flight plan was filed, and the flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to the pilot, he had just purchased the airplane and was in the process of ferrying it home when he identified some weather along his planned route of flight. Not sure if he would be able to maintain visual flight rules, the pilot elected to divert to the Harding County Airport. The pilot maneuvered the airplane for runway 4, which was 4,201 feet long by 75 feet wide. The airplane touched down on the first 1/3 of the runway with full flaps and an indicated airspeed of approximately 70 to 80 mph. The pilot retarded the throttle to idle, and applied the handbrake, which caused the airplane to pull from side to side.

Fearing that he would not be able to stop the airplane before reaching the end of the runway, the pilot elected to drive it onto a grassy area to the right. After depafting the runway, the nose wheel struck a culvert that the pilot did not see. The nose wheel collapsed, and the airplane nosed over. The pilot secured the airplane, and then egressed without assistance. The pilot added that the brakes were functioning "because the tires were braking," but that the brakes seem to be activating from side to side. In addition, the pilot stated that this was his first landing in the airplane.

About 3 minutes before the accident, a weather facility located approximately 28 nautical miles to the north of the airport, recorded the weather as wind 320 degrees at 5 knots, visibility 10 miles, few clouds at 3,900 feet and 4,500 feet, temperature 70 degrees Fahrenheit, dew point 54 degrees Fahrenheit, and an altimeter setting of 30.09 Hg.

According to a mechanic, while the airplane was in a hangar waiting transportation, he applied the handbrake and then tried to push the airplane. The airplane did not move.