Owatonna Degner Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Owatonna, Minnesota 55060
Sunday, March 23, 2003 9:15 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane veered off the left side of runway 12 and impacted terrain. The pilot reported the wings were level at the time of touchdown. After the airplane veered off the runway the pilot pitched the nose up and increased power to avoid colliding with airport lights and a ditch. The winds were reported from 190 degrees at 14 knots at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilots loss of directional control on landing and subsequent collision with terrain. Contributing factors were the crosswind, the airport lights, and the ditch.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/23/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 915
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Owatonna
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 55060
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 440724N
Event Location Longitude 0931538W
Event Location Airport Owatonna Degner Regional
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OWA
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 1146
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 917 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID OWA
Elevation of weather observation facility 1145
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.76
Density Altitude (feet) 1360
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13939
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Mar 24 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1150
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Minneapolis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N92505
NTSB Number CHI03LA092
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-181
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 2890211
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 Feb 21 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 28
Airframe Hours 3795
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Thunderbird Aviation Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3050 Metro Drive Suite 200
Aircraft Owner City Minneapolis
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55425
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 FCM
Departure City Flying Cloud
Departure State MN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 840
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code OWA
Destination City Owatonna
Destination State MN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 30 2003 3:43PM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 12
Runway Length 5500
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --