Accident Overview
On 3 May 2008 at 1935 hours, a Piper PA-28-181 Cherokee Archer II (registration G-KITE) was involved in an accident at Popham Airfield, Hampshire. The aircraft was conducting a private flight with one pilot and one passenger on board. Both occupants sustained minor injuries. The aircraft sustained slight damage to the propeller, engine shock-loading, and both wings were torn off.
History of the Flight
The pilot, who held a Private Pilot’s Licence and had 249 hours of flying experience (all on type), reported that after changing radio frequency from Farnborough Radar to Popham, he was unable to raise a reply. Without first checking the windsock, he elected to conduct a direct approach to Runway 26. The approach to this runway is offset to avoid overflying a petrol filling station near the runway end, and the aircraft landed long. The grass surface was damp, and the pilot found he could not stop the aircraft before overrunning the runway end. The aircraft passed through the boundary fence, crossed one lane of an airfield access road, and then ran through another boundary fence before being arrested by a substantial hedge, which tore both wings from the fuselage.
Pilot's Assessment of Cause
The pilot’s assessment of the cause of the accident attributed it to a combination of factors: a degree of tiredness after a two-day tour combined with a feeling that the end was in sight; failure to observe the windsock, which would have shown that the wind was approximately 9 knots from 150°, giving a tailwind component when landing on Runway 26; and the fact that the aircraft landed long on damp grass.