- Date
- June 29, 2017, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Honesdale, PA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6977WPiper PA 28-140
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 15, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- Case key
- 95461
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 crosswind conditions.
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
The pilot reported that, during the landing flare, a wind gust "picked up" the right wing and "spun" the airplane to the left. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway and came to rest in a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward portion of the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. An automated weather observation system located about 13 nautical miles from the accident site reported that, about the time of the accident, a right 70°, 8-knot crosswind wind prevailed.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during the landing flare a gust of wind "picked up" the right wing and "spun" the airplane to the left. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway and came to rest in a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward portion of the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. An automated weather observation system located about 13 nautical miles from the accident site reported that about the time of the accident, a right 70° crosswind wind at 8 knots prevailed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6977W
- Reported as
- Piper PA 28-140 (140)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-21175
- Built
- 1965
- Airframe hours
- 6,457.08
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 8, 2017 · 630 hours before
- Departed
- 22N · Lehighton, PA
- Destination
- N30 · Honesdale, PA
- Airport
- N30 · Cherry Ridge, runway 36, 2,986 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Stall warning system
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
- 65
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 359 total · 200 in this make and model · 7 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 41 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- KMPO, 24 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 27, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.7 MB in all.
Other investigations on N6977W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.