Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mount Horeb, Wisconsin 53572
Sunday, January 14, 1996 12:25 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot landed at a closed airstrip after making arrangements to meet his wife there. The airstrip was marked as closed; however, it was covered with snow in the landing area. The pilot said that before landing, he saw a pedestrian along the side of the strip, who waved; he thought the pedestrian was his wife. After landing, the airplane slowed quickly on the snow covered runway. The pilot said he applied some power to continue taxiing in the snow, but the airplane was moving slowly. As the pilot was taxiing the tailwheel equipped airplane without S-turning, he was looking out the door on the right side. He said he caught a glimpse of something to his left, and at about that moment, the left strut of the airplane hit the pedestrian, who was a woman that was walking her dog on the airstrip. The pedestrian was struck in the back of the head and was seriously injured. The pilot did not obtain a weather briefing before the flight nor did he have a current sectional chart.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to see-and-avoid the pedestrian. Factors relating to the accident were: the pilot's inadequate preflight preparation, his landing on a closed airstrip, and the snow covered terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/14/1996
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1225
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City MOUNT HOREB
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 53572
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1256 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 50
Weather Observation Facility ID MSN
Elevation of weather observation facility 1343
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 11
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 0
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 1
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 127
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 14 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1400
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 9:46AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1412N
NTSB Number CHI96LA078
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model J3C-65
Aircraft Series Identifier J3C-65
Aircraft Serial Number 22935
Certified Max Gross Weight 1220
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 3 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 659
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RICHARD A. ALCOCK
Aircraft Owner Street Address 11933 WARBLERS WAY
Aircraft Owner City ROSCOE
Aircraft Owner State IL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 61073
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PVT
Departure City ROCKTON
Departure State IL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1125
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --