- Date
- February 7, 2012, 18:05 local (23:05 UTC)
- Place
- Greenville, SC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4592RPiper PA-28-140
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 9, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA / FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120207002169A
- Case key
- 82837
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 loss of directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a runway excursion.
Findings · 2
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
After turning onto final approach for landing at his home airport, the pilot selected 25 degrees of flaps and slowed the airplane to 80 mph. At this point, he encountered a slight crosswind, the airplane drifted to the right of the runway centerline, but the pilot corrected for it. He stated that the touchdown was smooth, but the airplane veered to the right. The pilot tried to correct using left rudder and left brake, but the airplane continued to veer to the right, departed the paved surface of the runway, and struck a runway sign with the left wing, substantially damaging the wing structure. The pilot stated that he believed that the right brake may have been "hanging up" and that he should have aborted the landing when the airplane began to veer to the right. A postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any anomalies with the brake system.
Factual narrative
After turning on to the final approach for landing at his home airport, the pilot of the Piper PA-28-140 selected 25 degrees of flaps, and slowed to 80 miles per hour. At this point, he encountered a slight crosswind that was blowing from the east to the west. This caused the airplane to drift slightly to the right of the runway centerline but, he corrected for it. He stated that the touchdown was smooth but, the airplane began to veer to the right. The pilot tried to correct using left rudder and left brake but the airplane continued to veer to the right, departed the paved surface of the runway, and struck a runway sign with the left wing, substantially damaging the wing structure. After striking the runway sign the airplane traveled up onto a taxiway and the pilot released the pressure on the left rudder pedal. The airplane then ground looped to the right, travelled off the side of the taxiway, and rolled forward about 50 feet and came to rest. The pilot stated that he believed that the right brake may have been "hanging up" and that he should have aborted the landing when the airplane began to veer to the right. A review of witness statements did not reveal any evidence of a brake malfunction, nor did they reveal if the brakes were functioning properly at the time of the accident. A cursory visual examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any break anomalies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4592R
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-21338
- Airframe hours
- 4,112
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 6, 2011
- Departed
- GMU · Greenville, SC
- Destination
- GMU · Greenville, SC
- Airport
- GMU · Greenville Downtown Airport, runway 19, 5,393 × 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
- 77
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 10, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,274 total · 28 in this make and model · 184 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- GMU
Docket · 8
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 31, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.3 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.