- Date
- March 26, 2022, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Benton, AR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7523ZPiper PA-25-235
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- 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 Flight Standards
- Case key
- 104863
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 while landing.
Findings · 1
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 planned to complete two takeoffs and landings (touch-and-goes) followed by a full stop landing. He executed a go-around and a touch-and-go before the accident landing. After the airplane touched down during the accident landing, the airplane tail began to settle to the runway. The pilot responded by pulling the control stick aft. About 2-3 seconds later, the airplane began to pitch up and bank to the right. At that point, the pilot “realized that [he] was behind the aircraft.” He attempted to execute a go-around but lost control of the airplane, resulting in a runway excursion. The airplane came to rest in a ditch off the right side of the runway. The right wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane before the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7523Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-3564
- Built
- 1965
- Airframe hours
- 7,621
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B2B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 12, 2022 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- PVT · Calvin, OK
- Destination
- SUZ · Benton, AR
- Airport
- KSUZ · Saline County, runway 2, 5,002 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 28, 2022
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 276 total · 2 in this make and model · 178 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KSUZ, 230 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KSUZ 261955Z AUTO 18007KT 10SM CLR 21/M05 A3005
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 28, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.0 MB in all.