A PVT PLT LANDS HIS ACFT ON A CLOSED RWY AT HANOVER; PA. THE ACFT IMPACTS DIRT AND DEBRIS PILED 3 FT HIGH ON THE DESTRUCTED RWY AND COLLAPSES THE L GEAR. PLT HAD SUDDENLY DECIDED TO USE THAT ARPT AS A LAYOVER.

Date: 1998-05 · Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-landing-without-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|inflight-event-encounter-loss-of-aircraft-control

Synopsis

A PVT PLT LANDS HIS ACFT ON A CLOSED RWY AT HANOVER; PA. THE ACFT IMPACTS DIRT AND DEBRIS PILED 3 FT HIGH ON THE DESTRUCTED RWY AND COLLAPSES THE L GEAR. PLT HAD SUDDENLY DECIDED TO USE THAT ARPT AS A LAYOVER.

Narrative

I LANDED ON A CLOSED AND UNDER REPAIR RURAL RWY AT AN UNFAMILIAR ARPT. ESSENTIALLY BECAUSE I WANTED TO AVOID A NIGHT ARR AT (AND FLY THE NEXT MORNING INTO) MY SMALL HOME BASE (IN A VALLEY) S OF WASHINGTON; I UTILIZED MY GPS DATABASE TO FIND NEAREST ARPT DIRECTLY ALONG MY RTE; WHICH WAS 6W6; PA. I ALSO HAD SECONDARY WX RELATED CONCERNS BECAUSE THERE WAS SOME PRECIP IN THE AREA; HOWEVER; HANOVER WAS THEN GOOD VFR. I ALSO WAS CONCERNED ABOUT POTENTIAL DELAYS AND THUS DARKNESS IN THE WASHINGTON CLASS B AIRSPACE. (ON A PREVIOUS OCCASION; DULLES APCH HAD OUTRIGHT REFUSED ME ENTRY INTO THE CLASS B AIRSPACE.) HAVING DECIDED TO STOP FOR THE NIGHT AT HANOVER; I THEN PROCEEDED DIRECTLY TO THAT ARPT AND BRIEFLY CIRCLED AFTER NOT SEEING IT INITIALLY. IT WAS STILL DAYLIGHT BUT TURNING TO DUSK AND; AS NOTED; GOOD VFR AT THAT TIME AND LOCATION. I HAD NEVER BEEN THERE BEFORE. AFTER LOCATING THE ARPT (WHICH TOOK LESS THAN 1 MIN); INCLUDING ACFT ON THE GND AND WHAT APPEARED TO BE THE ACTIVE (AND ONLY) RWY RUNNING IN THE DIRECTION INDICATED BY THE PERSON RESPONDING TO THE UNICOM INQUIRY; I ENTERED THE DOWNWIND PORTION OF THE LNDG PATTERN FOR WHAT I THOUGHT WOULD BE A ROUTINE APCH. AND IT APPEARED TO BE JUST THAT UNTIL MOMENTS AFTER TOUCHDOWN. I INITIALLY LANDED SMOOTHLY AND FOR A SIGNIFICANT DISTANCE MAINTAINED FORWARD DIRECTIONAL CTL ON THE GND; BUT THE ACFT THEN VEERED TO THE L INTO A WHEAT FIELD ADJACENT TO THE RWY; AND CAME TO A STOP. I WAS UNINJURED (AND HAD NO PAX). MY ACFT AND PARTICULARLY ITS L WING AND L WHEEL AND STRUT WERE DAMAGED WHEN THE L WHEEL GRAZED A DIRT PILE ABOUT 3 FT HIGH ON THE CLOSED RWY'S CTRLINE. I LATER LEARNED THE FOLLOWING: 1) THE HARD SURFACED RWY ON WHICH I HAD LANDED WAS UNDER REPAIR; AND HAD AN UNEVEN 3-4 FT PILE OF DIRT IN THE CTR. 2) THE L WHEEL HAD CLIPPED THE DIRT PILE ABOUT 3 FT OFF THE GND ON MY APCH. 3) THE IMPACT APPARENTLY CAUSED THAT WHEEL FAIRING TO COLLAPSE IN THE COURSE OF THE LNDG ROLLOUT CAUSING THE ACFT TO VEER OFF THE RWY TO THE L. 4) THE ACTUAL RWY IN USE WAS A TURF OR GRASS RWY IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO AND PARALLEL TO WHAT APPEARED TO ME TO BE THE DARK COLORED ACTIVE RWY. OVER A PERIOD OF ABOUT 7 MINS; FROM THE TIME I DECIDED TO LAND AT HANOVER UNTIL I DID SO; I ATTEMPTED TO OBTAIN NECESSARY INFO. I CALLED THE HANOVER UNICOM (123.0); THEY ANSWERED AND GAVE ME THE BEARING OF THE ACTIVE RWY. HOWEVER; IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF THE SHORT TIME FRAME; THE LATENESS OF THE HR; AND THE NEED TO LOCATE THE ARPT; I DID NOT OBTAIN ALL INFO NECESSARY FOR SAFE OP AT THAT LOCATION WITH REGARD TO THAT PARTICULAR ARPT. IN PARTICULAR; I DID NOT OBTAIN NOTAM AND RELATED INFO PERTAINING TO THAT ARPT. FURTHER; I DID NOT OBTAIN INFO TO THE EFFECT THAT THE HARD-SURFACED RWY WAS UNDER REPAIR AND CONTAINED OBSTRUCTIONS ON THE RWY. NOR DID I LEARN OR OTHERWISE ASCERTAIN THAT THE ACTIVE WAS IN FACT A GRASS STRIP IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT AND PARALLEL TO WHAT APPEARED TO BE THE ACTIVE. I CERTAINLY HAD NOT IGNORED THE ATC SYS THAT DAY. IN THE COURSE OF THE DAY; I HAD RECEIVED WX BRIEFINGS FROM MONTREAL FSS AND AGAIN FROM WILLIAMSPORT RADIO. IN ADDITION; I HAD MONITORED THE FLT WATCH FREQ (122.0) OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD. I HAD ALSO FILED; AMENDED AND CLOSED A FLT PLAN AT A CUSTOMS STATION IN NEW YORK. FURTHER; I HAD CALLED AND SPOKEN WITH HANOVER UNICOM AND RECEIVED NOTICE OF THE THEN ACTIVE RWY. FURTHER; I HAD ALSO CONSULTED IFR APCH PLATES FOR HANOVER BUT FOUND NONE BECAUSE IT IS NOT AN IFR ARPT. MY PLANNING AND JUDGEMENT WERE INADEQUATE FOR THE FOLLOWING PROBABLE REASONS: 1) IT HAD ALREADY BEEN A LONG AND FRUSTRATING DAY DEALING WITH A NUMBER OF UNITED STATES CUSTOMS STATIONS; CANADIAN FSS; AND A CLOSED FUEL FACILITY. 2) I WAS SOMEWHAT TIRED. 3) I RELIED TOO MUCH ON THE GPS DATABASE; AS IF I NEEDED TO KNOW LITTLE MORE THAN THE ARPT LOCATION. 4) I FAILED TO ALLOW SUFFICIENT PLANNING TIME BTWN THE DECISION TO LAND AND THE ACTUAL LNDG.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.