19780223000999I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-28-140 · Palmer, MA · February 23, 1978

Date
February 23, 1978 · 11:30 local
Place
Palmer, MA
Airport
Metro
Phase of flight
Takeoff Ground Roll
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N1657H
Reported as
Piper PA28140
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
400 total18 in this make and model0 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Pilot hit frost heave on takeoff, became airborne prematurely. Drifted and weather-cocked in crosswind.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT HIT FROST HEAVE ON TAKEOFF, BECAME AIRBORNE PREMATURELY. DRIFTED AND WEATHER-COCKED IN CROSSWIND.