- Date
- May 17, 2021, 14:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Pinecreek, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N416RPPiper PA28
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20210517009139A
- Case key
- 103117
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 control of the airplane in gusting crosswind conditions.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported he was performing a touch-and-go landing with a gusting crosswind when during the landing flare, the wind gust increased, and the left wing raised up. The pilot added more crosswind control inputs, but overcorrected. The airplane yawed left and the pilot lost control of the airplane. The airplane departed the side of the runway and impacted the terrain coming to rest in the grass. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. At the time of the accident, the pilot was landing the airplane on runway 33 with wind from 270o at 9 knots with gusts to 19 knots. The pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented if he would have performed a go-around.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N416RP
- Reported as
- Piper PA28 (151)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7415310
- Built
- 1974
- Airframe hours
- 4,881
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Miller Aircraft Services Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 15, 2021 · 11.8 hours before
- Departed
- KCKN · Crookston, ND
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 48Y · Piney Pinecreek Border, runway 33, 3,297 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 29, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 167 total · 56.5 in this make and model · 20.1 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 12.8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 9 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- KROX, 13 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 7, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.