NTSB Factual Report

On April 21, 2002, at 1835 mountain standard time, a Piper PA24-250, N7401P, veered off runway 21R during the landing roll and collapsed the landing gear in a collision with several obstacles at the Ernest A. Love Field Airport (PRC), Prescott, Arizona. The owner operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. The airline transport pilot and one passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The local flight departed PRC about 1730. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed.

The pilot was interviewed by telephone on April 22, 2002. He stated that he took off about 1730 and did three touch-and-go takeoffs and landings on runway 31R, then departed the pattern. After climbing to 8,500 feet, he did some air work, and then returned to the airport. The tower cleared him for a right base to runway 21R. He said that this runway was narrower than the others at the airport that he was used to (runway 21R is 60 feet wide, while the others are 150 feet wide). On touchdown, the airplane began drifting to the right. He applied left rudder but couldn't correct the right drift prior to the airplane leaving the pavement on the right side. The airplane impacted a runway light, then the right wing hit a small wooden building, which collapsed the nose gear and tore the right main gear out of the right wing structure.

The pilot noted, although he was a former airline pilot, he lost his medical certificate in 1972 due to medical problems, and got it back in August 2001. The pilot flew about 15 hours since then, and had recently purchased the airplane.

During a telephone interview with the National Transporation Safety Board investigator-in-charge, the insurance representative stated that the airplane had been inspected and it was determined that there were no mechanical malfunctions prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft during the landing roll.