Piper PA 28-140 N1572J accident near Sturtevant, Wisconsin

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain a proper glidepath during a landing at dusk, which resulted in impact with a moving ground vehicle. Contributing to the accident was the inoperative precision approach path indicator.

NTSB analysis

The commercial pilot was performing the fourth in a series of landings at dusk. While on final approach, the low-wing airplane's landing gear impacted a tractor-trailer traveling on the highway perpendicular to the runway. All three of the airplane's landing gear separated, and the pilot performed a go-around followed by a "belly" landing to the parallel grass runway.

Following a similar accident about 19 years earlier, the airport installed a precision approach path indicator (PAPI) to provide visual glidepath guidance for pilots. The PAPI was inoperative at the time of the accident, and the airport had not issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) to alert pilots of this fact. It is likely that the pilot's visual references were reduced due to the dusk conditions, and it is probable that, had the PAPI been operative and providing corrective feedback to the pilot, he would have adjusted the airplane's excessively low glidepath accordingly.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN16LA097 for the full record.