- Date
- April 4, 2005, 16:20 local (20:20 UTC)
- Place
- Griffin, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6651WPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 7, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Atlanta FSDO
- FAA report
- 20050404005439A
- Case key
- 61261
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in an on-ground collision with a ditch.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
According to the pilot, he was conducting touch and go landings on runway 32. During the landing roll, the pilot lost directional control of the airplane, and veered off the left side approximately 300 feet down from the approach end of the runway threshold. Post examination of the airplane revealed that it collided with a ditch, and the nosewheel was bent aft up towards the fuselage, and the left wing spar was buckled. The pilot reported no mechanical problems with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On April 4, 2005, at 1820 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-140, N6651W registered to and operated by Cherokee Group, collided in a ditch at the Griffin Spaulding Airport, Griffin, Georgia. The personal flight was operated under the provision of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the pilot was uninjured. The flight departed Griffin Airport, Georgia, April 4, 2005, at 1814.
According to the pilot, he was conducting touch and go landings on runway 32. During landing roll the airplane veered off the left side of the runway approximately 300 feet from the approach end of the runway and collided with a ditch threshold.
Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that it collided with a ditch, and the nose wheel was bent aft up towards the fuselage, and the left wing spar was buckled. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6651W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-21277
- Airframe hours
- 3,400
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Cherokee Group
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 4, 2004
- Departed
- 6A2 · Griffin, GA
- Destination
- 6A2 · Griffin, GA
- Airport
- 6A2 · Griffin-Spalding County, runway 32, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 20 total · 20 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KOPN, 16 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.