NTSB Factual Report

On August 7, 2006, about 1530 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-23-250, N6549A, overran the runway and struck a fence during landing at Sky Meadows Airpark, Greenacres, Washington. The commercial pilot and his two passengers were not injured. The airplane, which was being operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal local flight. The flight departed from Sky Meadows about 45 minutes before the accident.

According to the pilot, "after landing, braking action was very poor due to a heavily irrigated section of runway 16 from mid-field to the departure end." The airplane's tires "appeared to hydroplane" on the wet grass runway surface, and the pilot was unable to stop the airplane from overrunning the end of the runway and striking a fence. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the bottom wing skin was torn and one aileron had a hole punctured in it. The pilot commented that the accident could have been prevented by "more close monitoring of the runway watering system" and "a physical check of the entire runway before takeoff to determine any variances in surface condition."

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing runway which resulted in a runway overrun and collision with a fence. A contributing factor was the wet runway condition.