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ATL86LA247 · Piper PA-24 180

7 Sept 1986 · Huntsville, AL, United States

Piper PA-24 180 · Accident: in flight collision with object on approach

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Event

NTSB case
ATL86LA247
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Piper PA-24 180

Aircraft type
Piper PA-24
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N6309P
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Approach · VFR pattern final
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
In flight collision with object
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Wire, static
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, poor
  • Pilot in command › Proper glidepath, not attained
  • Pilot in command(cfi) › Remedial action, not performed

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE STATED PURPOSE OF THIS FLT WAS A BFR FOR THE PLT. BOTH THE CFI AND THE PLT STATED THAT THE BFR PART OF THE FLT WAS COMPLETE AND THAT THE PLT WAS PRACTICING A SHORT FIELD LANDING WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED. THE APPROACH WAS TOO LOW AND THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR SNAGGED A CABLE STRUNG ACROSS THE END OF THE RUNWAY. THE CABLE WAS TO KEEP CARS FROM TAKING A SHORT CUT ACROSS THE RWY. RWY 36 HAS A DISPLACED THRESHOLD. OTHER ACFT IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN FORCED THE PLT TO MAKE A LONGER THAN NORMAL FINAL APCH. THE PAX STATED THAT HE NOTICED THAT THE SINK RATE INCREASED JUST PRIOR TO IMPACT WITH THE CABLE.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record ATL86LA247
Event ID
20001213X34706
Case number
ATL86LA247
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 81f98ae568f5d3876cafa6d63cc6c774bff3d79d5e7f5bd04ec981867cbfbc74; retrieved 2026-09-23T14:01:14.680Z.