| Crash location | 43.178611°N, 89.451389°W |
| Nearest city | Waunakee, WI
43.191937°N, 89.455675°W 0.9 miles away |
| Tail number | N56715 |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 02 Apr 2005 |
| Aircraft type | Piper PA-28-151 |
| Additional details: | None |
On April 2, 2005, at 2222 central standard time, a Piper PA-28-151, N56715, collided with a fence and a pole during an aborted landing on runway 09 (2,223 feet by 30 feet, dry asphalt) at the Waunakee Airport, Waunakee, Wisconsin. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight originated from Green Bay, Wisconsin, at 2120.
The pilot reported the weather was clear, calm, and dark since there was no visible moon. He stated he remotely activated the runway lights and was landing from west to east. The pilot stated he did not know that the runway lights do not illuminate the runway and that they did not start at the end of the runway. He stated, "Every time I had landed here at night, you could see the outline of the runway and lights would not have been needed." He stated that this time he could not see the runway until he was on it and that all he could see was what the landing light was illuminating. The pilot also reported the end of the runway on which he was landing sloped down.
The pilot stated that after touching down, he realized he was further down the runway than he intended, so he decided to initiate a go-around. He stated he added 20 degrees of flaps, applied full throttle, and rotated at 65 miles per hour. He stated the airplane traveled off the end of the runway prior to it lifting off. The pilot stated that after lifting off, the stall horn sounded so he descended back into ground effect to accelerate. He stated, "When I climbed again, the horn went off again and so I climbed more slowly." The pilot reported he was nearing a house at the end of the runway, so he turned to the left and pushed the yoke forward in an attempt to "crash into the ground and skid between two houses." He stated the airplane contacted a fence and a permanent basketball hoop pole prior to the airplane coming to a stop.
The Airport/Facility Directory states the airport has nonstandard low intensity runway lights located 155 feet from the west end of runway 09/27. The directory also indicates that 1,910 feet of the runway is lit and that the lights are located approximately 60 feet from the edge of the pavement.
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and the delay in aborting the landing which resulted in the subsequent insufficient airspeed. Factors associated with the accident were the night light conditions, the fence, and the pole which the airplane contacted.