13 Jan 2009: PIPER PA-32R-300

13 Jan 2009: PIPER PA-32R-300 — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Manteo, NC, United States

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to follow the missed approach procedure while landing with a low ceiling.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

During a GPS approach at his destination airport, the pilot of a Piper PA-32R-300 was unable to "see the runway" at the missed approach point and then suddenly, the "runway was right there." The pilot however, had just retracted the landing gear to "go miss," so he decided to circle to land. He lined up with the runway but "got too low," and struck trees. The airplane came to rest on the porch roof of a residence. Post accident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the wings, fuselage, and empennage had sustained substantial damage. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions were discovered. The airport elevation was 14 feet above sea level (msl). The required ceiling for a straight in approach was 440 feet msl. The required ceiling for a circling approach was 600 feet msl. The ceiling at the time of the accident was 300 feet above ground level.

Contributing factors

  • Altitude — Not attained/maintained
  • cause Pilot
  • Effect on operation

Conditions

Weather
IMC, wind 340/08kt, vis 4sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.