Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee Runs Off Runway 35 at Salt Lake City on Landing; Pilot Unhurt, Aircraft Substantially Damaged
Why It MattersLow-energy runway excursions by light piston aircraft on Part 91 personal flights are routinely resolved as damage-only events, and the investigative record, not the first-day account, determines what the finding ultimately says.
What happened
A 1963 Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee, registration N8620W, landed on runway 35 at Salt Lake City International Airport on the morning of Nov. 2 and then slid off the pavement into the grass. The single-engine aircraft was on a Part 91 personal flight, and the NTSB lists the operator as Purcell Holdings LC.
The only person aboard was not injured, according to the NTSB, which lists the aircraft damage as substantial. Gephardt Daily gave the touchdown time as about 10:25 a.m., while FOX 13 News gave about 10:30 a.m. and said the aircraft went off the west side of the runway immediately after landing.
Industry impact & what to watch
Runway excursions by light piston aircraft on personal flights are a familiar category: the aircraft leaves the pavement at low energy, the occupant walks away, and the airframe is classed as substantially damaged because of structural or repair thresholds rather than the severity of the ride. A 1963 airframe operated under Part 91 sits in the segment where records are held by individual owners or small holding companies, so the public picture is built almost entirely from the NTSB entry and local news.
The NTSB entry carries the formal findings. Its preliminary record and any later report are where the cause would be stated; until the NTSB publishes a probable cause, how the aircraft came to leave runway 35 is undetermined. The small gap between the two media accounts on timing, about 10:25 a.m. versus about 10:30 a.m., is the kind of detail the official record normally settles.
