# Incident 20220220012049I: Piper PA-28-181, Greenville, SC, February 20, 2022

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: February 20, 2022, 10:52 local time
- Place: Greenville, SC
- Airport: Greenville Downtown Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 34.8479° N, 82.3500° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at GREENVILLE DOWNTOWN (GMU), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.8479&lon=-82.3500&mi=10
- Aircraft: N87W, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N87W) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-28-181 (registry code 7102807, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-28-181) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming 0-360-A1D (registry code 41504, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-360-a1d) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA-28-181
- Reported engine: LYCOMING 0-360-A1D
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Private pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 125 total, 123 in this make and model, 20 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20220220012049I

## Narrative

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

PILOT STATEMENT:

"THE FLIGHT WAS UNEVENTFUL FROM KHKY TO KGMU. I HAD REQUESTED FLIGHT FOLLOWING SERVICES FROM ATC AND HAD CLEARANCE TO LAND ON RUNWAY 19. THE APPROACH TO LAND WAS STABLE AROUND 72KTS. THE PLANE WAS ON GLIDESLOPE WITH MY AIMING POINT IN VIEW. I HAD A LIGHT CROSSWIND COMING FROM HE LEFT. UPON ENTERING THE FLARE, I NOTICED THAT THE CROSSWIND WAS PUSHING ME SLIGHTLY RIGHT OF CENTERLINE. WHILE IN THE FLARE, I WAS USING A LITTLE LEFT AILERON TO OFFSET THE CROSSWIND BUT LET OFF THE RIGHT RUDDER, SO I DIDN'T CONTINUE TO DRIFT TO THE RIGHT. I HAD LEVELED THE WINGS. I MUST HAVE LET OFF THE RIGHT RUDDER A BIT TOO MUCH AND JUST BEFORE TOUCHDOWN THE WIND PUSHED THE REAR OF THE PLANE SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT. WHEN I TOUCHED DOWN, THE PLANE WAS POINTING SLIGHTLY LEFT, THE WHEELS GRABBED AND PULLED THE PLANE HARD TO THE LEFT. I TRIED TO CORRECT WITH RIGHT RUDDER HOWEVER WITH THE AMOUNT OF FORCE NEEDED TO CORRECT, I WAS AFRAID OF FLIPPING THE PLANE ON THE RUNWAY. THE PLANE CONTINUED TO MOVE TO THE LEFT HOWEVER WAS MORE CONTROLLED AT THIS POINT. UPON VEERING CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF THE RUNWAY I DECIDED TO ALLOW THE PLANE TO MOVE IN THE DIRECTION IT WATED, WILE KEEPING IT UNDER CONTROL. WHEN IN THE GRASS THE BRAKING OF THE AIRPLANE WAS DIMINISHED AS I TRIED TO BRING THE AIRPLANE TO A COMPLETE STOP. WHILE SLOWING DOWN I NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A TAXIWAY MARKER STEADILY APPROACHING. ONCE NOTICING, I TRIED TO STEER THE AIRPLANE FURTHER TO THE LEFT IN HOPES THAT THE WING WOULD CLEAR THE OBSTACLE. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH CLEARANCE TO COMPLETELY AVOID THE SIGN, AND THE PLANE WING STRUCK THE MARKER AT THE FUEL TANK. ONCE THE PLANE STOPPED, I WAS IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE TOWER, AND THEY ADVISED ME ON WHERE AND HOW TO PROCEED. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE PLANE ON THE TAXIWAY AND DRIVE TO THE RAMP WHERE I SHUT DOWN AND ASSESSED THE DAMAGE."

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.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.