# Accident 20200228000399A: Piper PA-28-140, Mt.Pleasant, TN, February 28, 2020

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: February 28, 2020, 15:40 local time
- Place: Mt.Pleasant, TN
- Airport: Maury Conuty
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Takeoff: Rotation
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 35.5556° N, 87.1808° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.5556&lon=-87.1808&mi=10
- Aircraft: N79HA, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N79HA-2023-02-04) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-28-140 (registry code 7102802, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-28-140) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming 0-320 series (registry code 41508, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA-28-140
- Reported engine: LYCOMING O-320-EA2
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot, flight instructor, private pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 950 total, 75 in this make and model, 165 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ERA20LA121](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA20LA121) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20200228000399A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON 2/28/2020 ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ (COMMERCIAL PILOT & FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^) AND ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ (STUDENT ON THIS FLIGHT) (COMMERCIAL ROTORCRAFT ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^) DEPARTED SPRINGFILED-ROBERTSON COUNTY AIRPORT (M91) FLYING A PIPER PA 28-140 (N79HA) CONDUCTING TRAINING FLIGHTS TO AND AROUND MAURY COUNTY AIRPORT (MCR). THE FLIGHT FROM M91 TO MCR WAS UNEVENTFUL. THE CREW SECURED THE AIRCRAFT AND HAD LUNCH NEAR MCR. THE ACCIDENT FLIGHT WAS TO BE A SOFT FILED TAKEOFF AND SUBSEQUENT SOFT FILED LANDINGS AT MCR PRIOR TO RETURNING TO M91. THE CREW PERFORMED A PREFLIGHT AND STARTED ACTIONS FOR FLIGHT. CFI REPORTED WINDS VARIABLE AT FIVE KNOTS, BUT WAS OBSERVED PREDOMINANTLY FROM 270. AFTER SITTING ENGINE RUNNING ON THE RAMP APPROXIMATELY 12-15 MINUTES THE AIRCRAFT TAXIED TO RUNWAY 35 (GRASS STRIP 1811 X 150). THE PILOT AND CFI REPORTED A NORMAL OPERATION BUT UNAWARE IF ENGINE RPM?S. PILOT REPORTS LIFT OFF APPROXIMATELY 900? AT WHICH TIME HE MOVED THE YOLK FORWARD TO REMAIN IN GROUND EFFECT. PILOT TRIED TO ROTATE OUT, THE AIRCRAFT SETTLED BACK INTO GROUND EFFECT. THE PILOT AND CFI CANNOT VERIFY AIRSPEED. THE PILOT AGAIN TRIED TO ROTATE OUT AND AGAIN THE AIRCRAFT SETTLED BACK INTO GROUND EFFECT. ONCE THE AIRCRAFT APPROACHED THE INTERSECTING RUNWAY THE POWER LINES AT THE EDGE OF THE FILED BECAME A CONCERN AS THEY WERE AT EYE LEVEL. THE PILOT ELECTED TO STAY ON THE FIELD AND PLACED THE AIRCRAFT IN A LEFT BACK INTO PREVAILING WINDS. THE AIRCRAFT BEGAN TO LOSE LIFT. AT THIS TIME, THE CFI TOOK CONTROLS AND WITH NO STALL WARNINGS OF BUFFETING DEEMED, THE AIRCRAFT WAS NOT RECOVERABLE. THE CFI REAPED BACK ON THE CONTROLS TO TRY TO CUSHION IMPACT. THE  AIRCRAFT CAME TO REST ADJACENT TO RUNWAY 24 WITH NO INJURIES TO CREW.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB ERA20LA121](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA20LA121), Feb 28, 2020: Piper PA28 (N79HA), Mount Pleasant, TN, substantial damage. Probable cause: A partial loss of engine power during initial climb due to carburetor icing that formed while idling on the ground for an extended amount of time. Contributing was the flight instructor's failure to…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft 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. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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