Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Watertown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watertown, Wisconsin 53094
Saturday, July 29, 1989 16:40 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DRG THE LANDING ROLL, THE ACFT RAN OFF THE DEPARTURE END OF THE WET RWY & WENT THRU A FENCE & DITCH BEFORE COMING TO A STOP ON A ROADWAY. THE WX CONDS AT THE TIME OF THE ACDNT WERE DESCRIBED AS 'MUCKY,' WITH LOW CEILINGS (200' TO 400'), LOW VISIBILITIES (1 TO 1-1/2 MI), & A STEADY RAIN. A WITNESS, WHO SAW THE ACFT ON SHORT FINAL APCH FOR THE RWY, RPRTD THAT IT APPEARED TO BE TOO FAST. HE ESTIMATED THE ACFT TOUCHED DOWN APRX 600' FROM THE DEPARTURE END OF THE 4000' RWY. THE 63 YR OLD VFR PLT & THE 86 YR OLD ACFT OWNER TOLD WITNESSES THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH FUEL TO GO AROUND. AN INSPN OF THE FUEL TANKS REVEALED ABOUT 5 GAL OF FUEL IN THE LEFT TANK, WHILE THE RIGHT TANK WAS ALMOST EMPTY. THE ACFT OWNER/RIGHT SEAT PASSENGER WAS ALSO A RATED PLT, BUT SHE HAD OPEN HEART SURGERY IN LATE 1988 & NO LONGER HELD A VALID MED CERT. APRX 39 MI ESE AT MILWAUKEE, THE 1650 CDT WX WAS IN PART: PARTIAL OBSCURATION, 3500' BROKEN, VISIBILITY 1.5 MI HAZE & LIGHT RAIN, WIND 070 DEG AT 8 KTS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT AND HIS MISJUDGEMENT OF DISTANCE AND SPEED DURING THE LANDING, WHICH RESULTED IN FAILURE TO ATTAIN A PROPER TOUCHDOWN POINT. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: THE WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE PILOT'S CONTINUED FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), INADEQUATE FUEL SUPPLY TO MAKE A GO-AROUND, WET RUNWAY WITH HYDROPLANING CONDITIONS, THE FENCE, THE DITCH, AND THE ROADWAY.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/29/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1640 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | WATERTOWN |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53094 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | WATERTOWN |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RYV |
| 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 | 820 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1650 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 110 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MKE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 723 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 39 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1056 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 30 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 745 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 39333 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3954R |
| NTSB Number | CHI89LA152 |
| 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-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7105059 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WHYTE, EDNA G |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RT 9, BOX 16D, AERO VALLEY APT |
| Aircraft Owner City | ROANOKE |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76262 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WHYTE, EDNA G. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | RT 9, BOX 16D, AERO VALLEY APT |
| Operator City | ROANOKE |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 76262 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DMO |
| Departure City | SEDALIA |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | RYV |
| 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 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 3965 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |