- Date
- September 6, 2021, 15:05 local (19:05 UTC)
- Place
- Philadelphia, PA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5166SPiper PA-28-180
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- 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
- 20210906015739A
- Case key
- 103818
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 exceedance of the wing’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of aircraft control.
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 airplane entered airspace under a Temporary Flight Restriction and was escorted to the accident airport by military aircraft. Pilots at the airport who witnessed the accident described the airplane’s approach as “long, slow, and unstable” and stated that the wings were “rocking.” They each described the airplane experiencing an aerodynamic stall where the airplane “dropped sharply” from about 50 feet above the runway surface. The pilot reported to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector that there were no mechanical deficiencies with his airplane that would have precluded normal operations, and that a vibration he detected before ground contact was “the stalled wing.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5166S
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7105020
- Built
- 1970
- Airframe hours
- 2,054
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 26, 2021
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- LOM · Wings Fld, runway 06/24, 3,700 × 75 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 72
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 21, 1992
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 602 total · 515 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 8 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.82 inHg
- Observed at
- KLOM
- METAR
- 062015Z AUTO 26008G16KT 220V280 10SM SCT065 27/13 A2982 RMK AO2 T02710130
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 5, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 991 KB 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.