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CHI06LA146

2006-06-02 · Faribault, Minnesota, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FBL

Current FAA registration · N63790

Make / Model
PIPER PA-23-250
Year of manufacture
1977 · 29 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING TI0-540 SER (310 hp)
Seats / Engines
6 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date
19770627
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A85B69

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

Directional control not obtained/maintained by the pilot during landing. A contributing factor was the ditch.

Factual narrative

On June 2, 2006, at 1900 central daylight time, a Piper PA-23-250, N63790, piloted by a private pilot, received substantial damage upon impact with terrain when the airplane veered off runway 30 at Faribault Municipal Airport (FBL), Faribault, Minnesota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was not operating on a flight plan. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The flight originated from Marshfield Municipal Airport, Marshfield, Wisconsin, at 1745 and was en route to FBL. The pilot stated that after landing on runway 30 (4,254 feet by 72 feet, asphalt), the airplane veered "hard" to the right even after attempting to correct towards the left. The airplane then traversed the runway and impacted a ditch. The pilot stated that the propellers struck the ground when the airplane impacted the ditch. Examination of the accident site by the Federal Aviation Administration revealed two sets of skid marks on the runway and two sets of tire marks through the adjacent grass area that preceded the airplane. Both tire skids/marks were similar. None of the tires had flat spotting and all of the tires were in good condition. The airplane came to rest about 57 feet from the left side of the runway, facing about 180 degrees opposite to runway 30. The nose landing gear and main landing gear were collapsed. Operation of the brake system showed no anomalies. The steering system linkage was found to be operative to the nose gear trunnion. All components of the landing gear system were present and associated breakage was consistent with impact damage. The airplane veered off the runway during landing and impacted a ditch. The pilot stated that he attempted to correct to the left when the airplane veered hard to the right upon touchdown. Examination of the accident site revealed two sets of skid marks on the runway and two sets of tire marks through the adjacent grass area that preceded the airplane. Both tire skids/marks were similar. None of the tires had flat spotting and all of the tires were in good condition. The airplane came to rest about 57 feet from the left side of the runway, facing about 180 degrees opposite to runway 30. Operation of the brake system showed no anomalies. The steering system linkage was found to be operative to the nose gear trunnion. The nose landing gear and right main landing gear were collapsed. All components of the landing gear system were present and associated breakage was consistent with impact damage. . Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2006_CHI06LA146.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.