Parowan Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Parowan, Utah 84761
Monday, February 4, 2008 11:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During a landing on a runway covered by about two to three inches of freshly fallen snow, one of the airplane's main landing gear impacted a snow covered mound of previously plowed snow that had hardened. That impact threw the airplane sideways, whereupon it collided with more of the previously plowed and hardened snow, resulting in the collapse of all the landing gear struts. The investigation determined that the last time that the runway was plowed, the snow had not been cleared all the way to the edge of the runway's paved surface, and there was therefore piles of previously plowed snow on the outer portions of the runway surface. Some of that snow was located 10 to 12 feet inboard of the edge of the runway surface. When the new snow fell, it became very hard to distinguish between the area where the previously cleared surface was covered only by the newly fallen snow, and the area where the chunks of previously plowed snow had piled up, hardened, and then been covered by the new snow. The pilot departed the same airport two days before the accident, and had seen the condition of the partially plowed runway. When he returned for landing on the day of the accident, he assumed that the old snow had been cleared away prior to the new snow falling, and that the entire runway was then covered only with the two to three inches of freshly fallen snow. Because he made that assumption, the pilot did not take advantage of the opportunity to perform a low approach and inspect the entire runway surface prior to landing. Soon after the airplane touched down, the pilot realized that the previously plowed snow was still on the edges of the runway, and that he had not touched down on the centerline. The pilot saw the chunks of snow-covered old snow prior to the impact, but before he could take remedial action, one of the airplane's main gear collided with a chunk of hardened old snow, and the accident sequence was initiated.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper in-flight decision not to over fly/inspect the snow covered runway prior to landing, and his failure to align the airplane over the centerline of the runway. Contributing to the accident was the snow covered runway, the airport operator's failure to properly plow and clear the runway, and hidden obstructions (previously plowed snow) under the freshly fallen snow.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/4/2008
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1130
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Parowan
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84761
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 375135N
Event Location Longitude 1124858W
Event Location Airport Parowan Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 1L9
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 5930
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 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Overcast
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) -4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.82
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
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23667
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Feb 4 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 28 2008 12:03PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N73BL
NTSB Number SEA08LA069
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-32R-301T
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3257450
Certified Max Gross Weight 3615
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 235
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Battista A. Locatelli
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Parowan
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84761
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 KVGT
Departure City Las Vegas
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 900
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 1L9
Destination City Parowan
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 20 2008 3:57PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --