Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Benson Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
White Bear Lake, Minnesota 55110
Tuesady, February 2, 1993 12:15 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT STATED WHEN HE LANDED ON THE SNOW-COVERED AIRSTRIP, IT APPEARED THE SNOW WAS 'HARD PACKED.' HE REPORTED AS THE AIRPLANE DECELERATED, IT BEGAN TO SINK INTO THE SNOW, THEN NOSED OVER. HE STATED: 'IN THE THIRTY EIGHT YEARS OF FLYING THIS IS MY FIRST ACCIDENT. SOMETIMES WE MAKE BAD DECISIONS AND THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE TIMES.' FAA PERSONNEL REPORTED 8 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE RUNWAY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT SELECTED UNSUITABLE TERRAIN FOR LANDING. THE SNOW COVERED RUNWAY WAS A FACTOR.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/2/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | WHITE BEAR LAKE |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55110 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | BENSON |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BBB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 1232 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 275 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 114 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 3 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 48261 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3854M |
| NTSB Number | CHI93LA084 |
| 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-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-12 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12-2767 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 25 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 2832 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DORN, EARL D. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10621 WINNETKA AVENUE, NORTH |
| Aircraft Owner City | MINNEAPOLIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55445 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | DORN, EARL D. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 10621 WINNETKA AVENUE, NORTH |
| Operator City | MINNEAPOLIS |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 55445 |
| 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 | MIC |
| Departure City | MINNEAPOLIS |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| 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 | 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 | 32 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |