- Date
- March 15, 2012, 12:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Dover, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N3779TPiper PA-28R-180
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120315003049A
- Case key
- 83163
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 takeoff in gusty wind conditions, which resulted in a collision with an object and a landing gear collapse during the subsequent landing.
Findings · 4
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 was taking off on a turf runway; during the takeoff roll, about the time of rotation, a gust of wind pushed the airplane into a stack of tires that marked the runway’s left boundary. The pilot completed the takeoff; however, the left main landing gear had sustained damage during the impact with the tires. The pilot subsequently returned and landed on the same runway. During the landing, the left side of the airplane settled onto the ground due to the damaged left main landing gear, which resulted in ground contact that substantially damaged the left wing. Postaccident examination did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The recorded wind at an airport about 30 miles northeast of the accident site was from 250 degrees at 10 knots, gusting to 15 knots about the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was performing a takeoff on runway 25, a 2,560-foot-long, 30-foot-wide, turf runway. During the takeoff roll, about the time of rotation, a gust of wind forced the airplane left into a stack of tires that marked the runway boundary. The pilot completed the takeoff; however, the left main landing gear had sustained damage during the impact with the tires. The pilot subsequently returned and landed on the same runway. During the landing, the left side of the airplane settled onto the ground due to the damaged left main landing gear, which resulted in ground contact with the left wing and horizontal stabilizer. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the left wing. The examination did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions, nor did the pilot report any. The recorded wind at an airport located approximately 30 miles northeast of the accident site, about the time of the accident, was from 250 degrees at 10 knots, gusting to 15 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3779T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-30091
- Airframe hours
- 5,730
- Engine
- Lycoming I0360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hulsart Bruce W
- Registered owner
- Hulsart Bruce W
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 26, 2011 · 52 hours before
- Departed
- 8TN7 · Dover, TN
- Destination
- CKV · Clarksville, TN
- Airport
- 8TN7 · Short Creek Airport, runway 25, 2,560 × 30 ft, grass/turf
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 27, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,270 total · 79 in this make and model · 1,215 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- CKV, 30 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 10, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 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.