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Atlas / NTSB / CHI04LA063

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CHI04LA063

2004-02-08 Lansing, Illinois, United States Airport · IGQ None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N38988

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER PA-28-161

Year of manufacture

1977 · 27 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19770803

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A4804A

Registrant of record

BMS AIRCRAFT LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The improper flare by the pilot due to his diverted attention during landing. Factors were the pilot's failure to execute a go-around, the overload of the right main landing gear, and the snowbank.

Factual narrative

On February 8, 2004, about 1330 central standard time, a Piper PA 28-161, N38988, operated by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage while landing at Lansing Municipal Airport (IGQ), Lansing, IL. The local flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot and 4 passengers sustained no injuries. The personal flight originated at 1320. The pilot stated he was landing on runway 18 (4,002 feet by 75 feet, ice covered asphalt) at IGQ when the right main landing gear broke through the wing. The pilot reported the final approach was looking good with no drifting. Cessna traffic was present at the airport doing full stop, taxi back landings when the accident occurred. The Cessna traffic was behind the hold short lines when the accident airplane was on short final. The pilot stated that he noticed the Cessna rolling past the hold short lines as he prepared to land. He reported glancing at his airspeed indicator which read "66 knots", after he saw the Cessna move past the lines. Shortly after he glanced at the indicator, he passed over the threshold and "hit the runway hard." The pilot realized there was a problem with the airplane and maintained directional control by using the rudder pedals until the airplane slowed. The airplane rolled into a snow bank following the right gear failure. The pilot reported no mechanical difficulties. He also reported that he should have executed a go-around when he saw the Cessna airplane cross the holding lines. The airplane was substantially damaged during a hard landing. The pilot stated that during the landing approach, he noticed another airplane at the holding lines of the runway. He stated that on final approach the other airplane moved. He reported that subsequent to the other airplane's movement, he looked back at the threshold, flared, and "hit the runway hard." After the hard landing, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane struck a snowbank. The pilot reported no mechanical difficulties, and stated that he should have executed a go-around when he saw the other airplane move. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2004_CHI04LA063.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗