Chandler Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Alexandria, Minnesota 63430
Thursday, December 23, 1999 12:10 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing rollout, the airplane veered off the snow-covered runway and impacted runway lights and a sign. The airplane's windshield had an 1/8-1/4 inch of ice accumulation. The pilot was issued a Center Weather Advisory (CWA) while en route to the destination airport. The CWA reported patchy severe mixed icing in clouds and precipitation with a chance of severe clear icing. The left and right side pilot windshields of a standard PA-34 were found to have rectangular areas of approximately 23 inches by 32 inches. The heated windshield plate area was approximately 3-1/2 inches by 7-1/2 inches.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate inflight decision to continue flight into icing conditions. An additional cause was the directional control not maintained by the pilot. Contributing factors were the viewable area of the aircraft's heated windshield panel, in-flight icing conditions, the snow covered runway, haze, runway edge lights and the runway sign.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/23/1999
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1210
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City ALEXANDRIA
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63430
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport CHANDLER FIELD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID AXN
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1424
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1213 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID AXN
Elevation of weather observation facility 1424
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 2.5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 2
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1803
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 28 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1517
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Apr 9 2001 8:54AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8417A
NTSB Number CHI00LA053
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-34-220T
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-34-220T
Aircraft Serial Number 8133175
Certified Max Gross Weight 4750
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 10 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5
Airframe Hours 1838
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MIKE REDIG
Aircraft Owner Street Address 343 EUGENE DR
Aircraft Owner City LOVELAND
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80537
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 FNL
Departure City FT COLLINS
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 710
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code AXN
Destination City
Destination State MN
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 9 2001 8:54AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 5100
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --