Accident Overview
On 2 December 2001, at approximately 1120 UTC, a Piper PA-34-200T twin-engine aircraft, registration G-ROLA, was involved in an overrun accident at a private airstrip in Top Farm, Royston, Hertfordshire. The aircraft, manufactured in 1976, was being flown on a private flight with only the pilot on board. The pilot held a Private Pilot's Licence and had 719 hours total flying experience, including 20 hours on type.
Flight and Approach
The pilot had flown from Elstree to the private strip near Royston. Weather conditions were good with calm wind at the landing site. The pilot positioned for a landing on runway 24, a 900-metre-long grass strip. He reported being high and fast on the final approach. The airspeed indicator displayed both miles per hour (MPH) and knots (Kts), which the pilot found hard to read, a configuration he had not encountered on previous aircraft. He believed this may have contributed to his faster-than-normal approach.
Landing and Overrun
The aircraft touched down approximately one-third of the way into the strip, bounced, and then settled into the landing roll. The grass strip was covered in short grass and was soft in places, resulting in very poor braking action. The aircraft overran the end of the runway, crossing a dirt track before coming to rest in the grassy field beyond. The ground in that field was soft, causing the nosewheel to dig in and collapse. The two propellers, the nosecone, and the nose landing gear sustained damage.
Pilot Comments and Circumstances
The pilot was familiar with the strip and noted that he may have subconsciously landed long to avoid a known area of soft patches near the threshold. Subsequent calculations indicated that the full 900-metre length of the strip would have been required to stop safely under the prevailing conditions. Additionally, the majority of the pilot's flying experience was on single-engine tailwheel aircraft, where a bounce on touchdown was not unusual; he reported that this may have affected his decision not to initiate a go-around when the aircraft bounced during landing.