Stanton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bennettsville, South Carolina 29512
Saturday, September 20, 1997 13:05 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot of a Piper PA-28-151 made an approach to land at a private airport. According to him, the airplane touched down after 'quite a bit of float.' The pilot stated he saw another airplane parked on the runway a short distance ahead, then he applied left rudder to avoid the parked airplane. As he passed the other airplane, the left wing tip of his airplane struck a hand rail, then the airplane turned left into a gulch and nosed over. According to an FAA inspector, the pilot did not properly plan his approach to landing at the airport. The PA-28-151 Owner's Manual showed that the airplane's required landing distance was approximately 1,100 feet. The runway was 2,300 feet in length. According to the pilot, the other airplane was parked about 550 feet from the departure end of the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to properly plan his approach, and his failure to attain a proper touchdown point for landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/20/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1305
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City BENNETTSVILLE
Event State SOUTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 29512
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport STANTON
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 120
Airport Elevation 260
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1250 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 195
Weather Observation Facility ID FLO
Elevation of weather observation facility 148
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 25
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Partial Obscuration
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 2300
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1121
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 20 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1440
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:33PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9643K
NTSB Number ATL97LA132
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-151
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28-151
Aircraft Serial Number 76-15222
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 3 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 68
Airframe Hours 1805
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BRUCE BAXTER
Aircraft Owner Street Address 701 NC 731 HIGHWAY
Aircraft Owner City CANDOR
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 27229
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name RICHARD SANDERSON
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 6028 MCDANIEL LANE #116
Operator City CHARLOTTE
Operator State NC
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 28213
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 8A6
Departure City CHARLOTTE
Departure State NC
Departure Country
Departure Time 1130
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
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 12
Runway Length 2300
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --