- Date
- December 11, 2020, 14:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Nantucket, MA · Taxiway E
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8436TPiper PA-28-161
- Defining event
- Landing-aborted after touchdown: Collision during takeoff/land
- 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/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20201211017559A
- Case key
- 102427
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 adequate clearance from obstacles during the attempted go around following an approach to landing in sun glare.
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
At the conclusion of a visual flight rules flight, the pilot completed a practice instrument approach to the runway. When he decoupled the autopilot at the conclusion of the approach, he looked up and was momentarily blinded by the setting sun. When he regained sight, the airplane had drifted to the right of the runway centerline. The tower controller then advised him to execute a go-around, and the pilot added full power and held the nose level to gain airspeed before climbing. The airplane subsequently struck a construction barricade on a closed taxiway. The pilot continued around the airport traffic pattern and made a normal landing. As a result of the impact with the barrier, the airplane’s right wing was substantially damaged. The pilot reported that that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8436T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161 (161)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8116321
- Built
- 1981
- Engine
- Lycoming 0-320 SERIES, 161 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KEWB · New Bedford, MA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- ACK · Nantucket Memorial, runway 06, 6,300 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B, Auto-pilot
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
- 89
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 9, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 4,686 total · 439 in this make and model · 4,500 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 9 °F, dew point 8 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- ACK
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 28, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.4 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.