- Date
- February 7, 2024, 12:26 local (17:26 UTC)
- Place
- Palm Beach Gardens, FL · F45 Airport
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N484APPiper PA-32-301T
- 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
- Case key
- 193776
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 of the airplane during the landing roll in a gusting crosswind.
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 of the airplane reported that he was intending to perform a touch and go landing at his home airport. Weather reports around the time of the accident indicated a 13 knot direct crosswind with wind gusts up to 21 knots. The pilot stated that immediately after the left main landing gear touched the runway, the airplane started to drift to the left. The airplane exited the runway into the grass, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the left main landing gear separated from the airplane. The runway excursion resulted in the vertical stabilizer sustaining substantial damage. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N484AP
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-301T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-8124003
- Built
- 1980
- Airframe hours
- 3,426
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-S1AD, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 10, 2023 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- F45 · North Palm Beach, FL
- Airport
- F45 · North Palm Beach County General Aviation, runway 09R, 4,300 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Satellite tracking device, Onboard weather, Electronic primary flight display
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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 8, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 560 total · 125 in this make and model · 435 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 13 knots, gusting 21
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.08 inHg
- Observed at
- F45
- METAR
- METAR KF45 071710Z AUTO 36013G21KT 10SM CLR 22/10 A3008 RMK AO2 TSNO=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 12, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 11.9 MB in all.