- Date
- June 8, 2013, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ozark, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6881WPiper PA-28-140
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20130608011089A
- Case key
- 87186
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’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during the aborted landing.
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
The student pilot was returning to his home airport at the conclusion of a local practice flight. After entering the traffic pattern, the pilot attempted to align the airplane with the runway while compensating for the crosswind. Just before touchdown, he elected to abort the landing, but after increasing engine power and retracting the flaps, the airplane began to drift off the left side of the runway and porpoise. The airplane eventually struck the ground and the right main landing gear collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing and firewall. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The student pilot was returning to his home airport at the conclusion of a local practice flight. After entering the traffic pattern, the pilot attempted to align the airplane with the runway while compensating for the crosswind. Just before touchdown, he elected to abort the landing, but after increasing engine power and retracting the flaps, the airplane began to drift off the left side of the runway and porpoise. The airplane eventually struck the ground and the right main landing gear collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing and firewall. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6881W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-21037
- Airframe hours
- 4,689
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Lewis Mark A
- Registered owner
- Lewis Mark A
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 13, 2012 · 693 hours before
- Departed
- 71J · Ozark, AL
- Destination
- 71J · Ozark, AL
- Airport
- 71J · Blackwell Field, runway 12, 5,120 × 80 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Student
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 21, 2013
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 149 total · 23 in this make and model · 24 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- HEY, 5 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 26, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.6 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.