Greenwood Lake Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

West Milford, New Jersey 07480
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 17:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the landing flare, the pilot of the Piper PA-28R-200 reported that the airplane was "caught" by a gust of wind, while about 3 to 4 feet above the runway. The airplane impacted the runway with lateral motion that "side loaded" the landing gear and resulted in substantial damage, though the pilot did not feel the landing was particularly hard. The pilot reported that a crosswind of 10 to 15 knots was present at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the wind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing. A factor was the wind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/23/2006
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City West Milford
Event State NEW JERSEY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 07480
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 410741N
Event Location Longitude 0742048W
Event Location Airport Greenwood Lake Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 4N1
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 Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20763
NTSB Notification Source TEB FSDO
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 28 2006 9:08AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4583T
NTSB Number NYC06CA210
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28R-200
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28R-7235099
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Piper Tango LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Lyndhurst
Aircraft Owner State NJ
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 4N1
Departure City West Milford
Departure State NJ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 4N1
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 5 2006 6:04PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 3470
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --