- Date
- October 24, 2025, 18:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Somerville, TN · Airport perimeter fence
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3905FPiper PA-28-140
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO, Lycoming Engines
- FAA report
- 20251024017119A
- Case key
- 201925
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On October 24, 2025, about 1815 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140, N3905F, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Fayette County Airport (FYE), Somerville, Tennessee. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that there were no anomalies noted during the preflight inspection, engine run-up checks, and three previous touch-and-go landings. During the fourth takeoff, at an altitude of about 600 ft and upwind of the runway, the airplane experienced a partial loss of engine power. The pilot was unable to restore engine power, made a 180° left turn and landed in a grassy area west of the runway. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted an airport perimeter fence before coming to rest in a grassy area about 515 ft northwest of the departure end of the runway. The airplane’s left wing separated and its fuselage and right wing also sustained substantial damage. The airplane was retained for further examination.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3905F
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7625269
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 3,100
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 15, 2025
- Departed
- FYE · Somerville, TN
- Airport
- FYE · Fayette County Airport, runway 1, 5,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Stall warning system
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- FYE, 0.39 nm away
- METAR
- KFYE 242315Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 16/08 A3018 RMK A01
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.