- Date
- September 19, 2021, 19:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Walnut Cove, NC
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9639DPiper PA-22-150
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- 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
- 20210919016219A
- Case key
- 103908
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 attain the proper touchdown point which resulted in a runway overrun, collision with an airport boundary fence, and a nose over event.
Findings · 4
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 after touch down, the airplane overran the runway, passed thru the airport boundary fence, nosed over, and came to rest inverted, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing lift strut. A post-accident examination revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9639D
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-6552
- Built
- 1959
- Airframe hours
- 2,929.8
- Engine
- Lycoming 0-320 SERIES, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Vestal James L
- Registered owner
- Vestal James L
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 24, 2021
- Departed
- 2A5 · Liberty, NC
- Airport
- N63 · Meadow Brook Fld, runway 16, 2,725 × 32 ft
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 81
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 620 total · 620 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- INT, 11 nm away
- METAR
- KINT 192254Z 18006KT 10SM CLR 28/17 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP189 T02830172
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 6, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.7 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.