Rush City Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rush City, Minnesota 55069
Sunday, July 4, 2004 22:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was damaged when it went off the left side of runway 34 and struck a ditch and a fence. The pilot reported that just before touchdown, the airplane was blown left of the runway centerline and he decided to execute a go-around. He said that as he added power, the airplane touched down and was pulled to the left and off of the runway. He stated that he cut the power and went through a ditch and a barbed wire fence before coming to rest. The winds were recorded as: 360 degrees magnetic at 10 knots, gusting to 15 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions which led to his loss of aircraft control. Factors were the wind gusts, the ditch, and the fence.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/4/2004
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 2230
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Rush City
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 55069
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 454153N
Event Location Longitude 0925711W
Event Location Airport Rush City Regional
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KROS
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KROS
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 1300
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.86
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KROS 050335Z AUTO 36010G15KT 10SM OVC013 18/
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16234
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 5 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Minneapolis, Minnesota

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N55930
NTSB Number CHI04CA170
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-7325534
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Bruce E. Bjorklund
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Cambridge
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code KROS
Departure City Rush City
Departure State MN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 16 2004 4:53PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --