# NTSB ERA25LA074: Piper PA28, N6294C, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, November 13, 2024

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report
- Date: November 13, 2024, 14:16 local (19:16 UTC)
- Place: Palm Beach Gardens, FL · F45 airport
- Coordinates: 26.845917, -80.222333 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=26.8459&lon=-80.2223&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Landing: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 1 uninjured
- 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
- NTSB case key (mKey): 199418
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA25LA074
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/199418/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199418
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25LA074

## Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during landing in a gusting crosswind, which resulted in a hard landing and runway excursion.

## Findings

NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause.

- [Wind: gusts](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03034045): Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena · Response/compensation (probable cause); cases with it: [Piper PA-28-181, 8 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03034045/cases.md?model=7102807), [All aircraft, 1,199 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03034045/cases.md)
- [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Piper PA-28-181, 53 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=7102807), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md)

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Landing: Other weather encounter](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/400); cases with it: [Piper PA-28-181, 5 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/400/sequence.md?model=7102807), [All aircraft, 1,127 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/400/sequence.md)
- [Landing: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092) (defining event); cases with it: [Piper PA-28-181, 10 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md?model=7102807), [All aircraft, 2,102 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md)
- [Landing: Landing gear collapse](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094); cases with it: [Piper PA-28-181, 11 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md?model=7102807), [All aircraft, 1,787 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md)
- [Landing: Runway excursion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300); cases with it: [Piper PA-28-181, 35 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300/sequence.md?model=7102807), [All aircraft, 3,643 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300/sequence.md)

## Analysis

The pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings at his base airport. While on his first approach to landing, the pilot reported that the wind was very gusty and that the gusts were “stronger than anticipated.” Just before touchdown, a gust of wind pushed the airplane to the right side of the runway. The airplane landed hard and, the nose gear collapsed., and The airplane then went off the side of the runway and into a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the tubular engine mounts and cockpit floor. The pilot reported there were no anomalies or mechanical failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane and that it “was nothing but a bad landing due to a surprising downdraft and too low to recover.”

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N6294C](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N6294C), registered now, S/N 28-7890358, built 1978 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA28 (181)
- Registry model: [Piper PA-28-181](https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-28-181) (registry code 7102807) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Lycoming O&VO-360 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-o-vo-360-series) (registry code 41514, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 28-7890358
- Year built: 1978
- Airframe hours: 13629.3
- Engines: Lycoming O-360-A4M 180 horsepower reciprocating
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Personal, Part 91
- Operator: SkyBlue Jet Academy
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: 100 hour, October 4, 2024
- Airport: F45, North Palm Beach County General Aviation, runway 14, 4,300 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment: Unknown

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 68; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, with waivers/limitations; last flight review April 8, 2024; seat: left; flight hours: 588.2 total, 463.2 in this make and model, 459.6 as pilot in command

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 60° at 13 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: 3,600 ft broken
- Temperature: 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter: 30.01 inHg
- Observed at: F45
- METAR: METAR KF45 131910Z AUTO 06013G22KT 10SM BKN036 BKN046 26/19 A3001 RMK AO2=

## Other investigations on N6294C (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB CHI05CA142](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI05CA142), Jun 15, 2005: Piper PA-28-181 (N6294C), Raymore, MO, substantial damage. Probable cause: The loss of total engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate preflight. A factor was the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing.

## Docket (4 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 22, 2025, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199418. 9.7 MB in all.

- Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 8 pages, 6.7 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=18308383&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Pilot%27s%206120%20Form_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Mor - pilot itinerary (item 2, PDF, 1 page, 115 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=18306741&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=MOR%20-%20Pilot-Rel.pdf
- Maintenance records - memorandum of record (item 3, PDF, 1 page, 112 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=18312177&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=MOR%20-%20Mx%20Records%20Review-Rel.pdf
- Investigation photographs (item 4, PDF, 6 pages, 2.8 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=18307033&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Investigation%20Photographs-Rel.pdf

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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