N6JH

On August 4, 2003, at 1310 eastern daylight time, a Piper, PA-32-260, N6JH, owned by Phoenix Flying INC. and operated by a private pilot, collided with an airport sign after an aborted landing at Pitt-Greenville Airport , Greenville, North Carolina. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the private pilot and passenger were not injured. The flight departed Columbus County Airport, in Whiteville, North Carolina, at 1200, on August 4, 2003.

According to the pilot, at touchdown on runway 26 the airplane veered right. The pilot applied full engine throttle in an attempt to gain altitude and airspeed. The right wing hit a runway sign to the right of runway 26, and at this point the right wing tank was ruptured. The pilot retarded the throttle and attempted to land in the grass on the other side of intersecting runway 20. The airplane slid across the intersection and the right wing caught fire. The airplane came to rest approximately 1000 feet right of the centerline of runway 20.

Examination of the airplane revealed that the right wing had been fire damaged. The right wing had crush damage along approximately 3 feet of its leading edge. Right wing skin was found where the airplane came to rest. The pilot reported that after exiting the airplane the right wing fuel tank exploded. No flight control malfunctions were reported by the pilot.