- Date
- August 10, 2020, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Montauk, NY
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4817SPiper PA32
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20200810018269A
- Case key
- 101779
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing and failure to maintain directional control, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with trees.
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 was attempting to land the airplane on the 75-ft-wide runway at the destination airport. He reported that during landing, the airplane bounced, and a gust of wind blew the airplane to the left side of the runway. He further stated he was having problems getting the airplane to settle back down on the runway and was afraid to advance the throttle due to being blown off the runway. The airplane subsequently struck trees off the side of the runway and both wings were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The weather conditions reported at the airport about the time of the landing included a wind from 27 degrees left of the runway heading at a velocity of 6 knots, or a left crosswind component of 3 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4817S
- Reported as
- Piper PA32 (260)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-1277
- Built
- 1969
- Airframe hours
- 11,077.1
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-E4B5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 30, 2020 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- HPN · White Plains, NY
- Destination
- MTP · Montauk, NY
- Airport
- MTP · Montauk, runway 24, 3,246 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Satellite tracking device
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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 31, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 192 total · 62 in this make and model · 16.7 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 6 knots
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- KMTP
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 15, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.1 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.