- Date
- August 23, 2009, 12:55 local (17:55 UTC)
- Place
- Tuskegee, AL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1415APiper PA-22
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 3, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090823048929A
- Case key
- 74574
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 aborted landing.
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
At the completion of a cross country flight, the pilot entered the traffic pattern for a landing on runway 31. The pilot was advised via the airport Unicom frequency that the winds were unpredictable, and observed that “the windsock indicated little if any wind.” After the flare for landing on the 5,003-foot-long by 100-foot-wide asphalt runway, the tail-wheel-equipped airplane "weathervaned" to the right. The pilot then decided to abort the landing; however the airplane departed the right side of the runway and impacted a berm, resulting in serious injury to the pilot and substantial damage to the airplane. Winds recorded 16 nautical miles northeast of the airport were aligned with the runway heading at 9 knots, gusting to 14 knots. Another airport located 31 nautical miles northwest recorded winds at 330 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 19 knots. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. The inspector found skid marks from both tires on the runway surface and he noted that the airplane sustained damage to the engine firewall, fuselage, and wings.
Factual narrative
At the completion of a cross country flight, the pilot entered the traffic pattern for a landing on runway 31. The pilot was advised via the airport Unicom frequency that the winds were unpredictable, and observed that “the windsock indicated little if any wind.” After the flare for landing on the 5,003-foot-long by 100-foot-wide asphalt runway, the tail-wheel-equipped airplane "weathervaned" to the right. The pilot then decided to abort the landing; however the airplane departed the right side of the runway and impacted a berm, resulting in serious injury to the pilot and substantial damage to the airplane. Winds recorded 16 nautical miles northeast of the airport were aligned with the runway heading at 9 knots, gusting to 14 knots. Another airport located 31 nautical miles northwest recorded winds at 330 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 19 knots. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. The inspector found skid marks from both tires on the runway surface and he noted that the airplane sustained damage to the engine firewall, fuselage, and wings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1415A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-326
- Airframe hours
- 1,599
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 C2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 10, 2009 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- LA87 · Covington, LA
- Destination
- 06A · Tuskegee, AL
- Airport
- 06A · Moton Field Municipal Airport, runway 31, 5,003 × 100 ft, 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
- 67
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 13, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,500 total · 2,300 in this make and model · 2,300 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 9 knots, gusting 14
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- AUO, 16 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 4, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 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.