- Date
- April 25, 2005, 16:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- South Bend, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N2833FPiper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 7, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050425006889A
- Case key
- 61363
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 student pilot failed to compensate for the crosswind condition and failed to maintain directional control. Factors included the crosswind and the windsock.
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
The airplane sustained substantial damage when it veered off the left side of runway 27 and hit the wind sock with its left wing. The solo student pilot, who was on an instructional cross-country flight, was not injured. The student pilot reported that he "taxied onto the runway for departure and the airplane began to pull to the left. I then added more correction but couldn't prevent the aircraft from going off the runway. The left wing hit the wind sock and then the plane came to a rest." The student pilot had a total of 58 hours of flight time with 9.9 hours as pilot in command. The observed surface winds at 1554 were 240 degrees at 15 knots, gusting to 21 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 25, 2005, at 1615 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-161, N2833F, operated by the Lansing Community College, sustained substantial damage when it veered off the left side of runway 27L (8,412 feet by 150 feet, asphalt) at the South Bend Regional Airport (SBN), South Bend, Indiana, and hit the wind sock with its left wing. The solo student pilot was not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 instructional cross-country flight departed Muskegon, Michigan, at an unknown time. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. A visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan was filed.
The student pilot reported that he "taxied onto the runway for departure and the airplane began to pull to the left. I then added more correction but couldn't prevent the aircraft from going off the runway. The left wing hit the wind sock and then the plane came to a rest."
The student pilot had a total of 58 hours of flight time with 9.9 hours as pilot in command.
The observed surface winds at SBN at 1554 were 240 degrees at 15 knots, gusting to 21 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2833F
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7916452
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Lansing Community College
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MKG · Muskegon, MI
- Destination
- SBN · South Bend, IN
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- SBN · South Bend Regional, runway 27L
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 21
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 58 total · 58 in this make and model · 20 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.