# NTSB ERA25LA293: Piper PA-28-181, N686JA, Inverness Highlands South, FL, August 7, 2025

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report
- Date: August 7, 2025, 12:55 local (16:55 UTC)
- Place: Inverness Highlands South, FL
- Coordinates: 28.802593, -82.318646 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=28.8026&lon=-82.3186&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Taxi](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/250) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Taxi-from runway: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 1 uninjured
- Status: Completed, report November 20, 2025
- 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): 200749
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA25LA293
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/200749/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=200749
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25LA293

## Probable cause

The pilot’s inadequate monitoring of the airplane during taxi which resulted in collision with a sign.

## Findings

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

- [Attention/monitoring: monitoring environment](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021545): Personnel issues › Psychological · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Piper PA-28-181, 11 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021545/cases.md?model=7102807), [All aircraft, 809 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021545/cases.md)

## Sequence of events

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

- [Taxi-from runway: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230) (defining event); cases with it: [Piper PA-28-181, 33 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md?model=7102807), [All aircraft, 4,585 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md)
- [Taxi-from runway: Ground collision](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200); cases with it: [Piper PA-28-181, 16 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200/sequence.md?model=7102807), [All aircraft, 618 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200/sequence.md)

## Analysis

The pilot stated that he was practicing touch-and-go landings at different airports. After his second landing at the airport, he was taxing back to the runway for departure to a different airport. During the taxi, he was looking down at his tablet computer, loading in a new route, when the airplane ran off the paved surface and into a sign. The collision resulted in substantial damage to the underside of the right wing. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N686JA](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N686JA), registered now, S/N 28020086, built 2022 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA-28-181
- Registry model: [Piper PA-28-181](https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-28-181) (registry code 7102807) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Lycoming IO-360-B4A](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-360-b4a) (registry code 41867, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 28020086
- Year built: 2022
- Airframe hours: 2025
- Engines: Lycoming IO-360-B4 200 hp reciprocating
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Personal, Part 91
- Registered owner: Hot Wings Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: Annual, July 29, 2025
- Departed: V04, Apopka, FL
- Destination: Same as departure
- Airport: INF, Inverness, runway 01, 5,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment: Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, Electronic primary flight display, ADS-B

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 68; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: multi-engine land; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; last flight review June 30, 2025; seat: left; restraint: 3-point; flight hours: 80.4 total, 18.7 in this make and model, 18.7 in the last 90 days, 4.7 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 140° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Temperature: 91 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter: 30.05 inHg
- Observed at: INF, 1 nm away
- METAR: KINF 071655Z AUTO 14003KT 7SM 33/23 A3005 RMK AO2

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 20250807011669A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250807011669A), Aug 7, 2025: Piper PA-28-181, Inverness, FL, Substantial damage. On August 7, 2025, at 1255 EDT, a Piper PA-28-181, [privacy data omitted], registered to[privacy data omitted] struck taxiway sign A3 while taxiing on taxiway…

## Other investigations on N686JA (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 ERA24LA149](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA24LA149), Mar 20, 2024: Piper PA28 (N686JA), Apopka, FL, minor damage. Probable cause: The pilot and the landscape worker’s inadequate visual lookout, which resulted in a collision.

## Docket (2 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 20, 2025, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=200749. 2.7 MB in all.

- Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 10 pages, 1.6 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19149223&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=6120_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Investigative photos (item 2, PDF, 3 pages, 1.1 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19149550&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=investigative%20photos-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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