- Date
- July 24, 2026, 08:20 local (12:20 UTC)
- Place
- Palmetto, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N44704Piper PA28
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 11, 2026
- 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
- 203491
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 flight instructor’s failure to maintain clearance from obstacles during low altitude maneuvering, which resulted in a collision with a fence.
Findings · 2
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 flight instructor stated that he was taking the private pilot on a familiarization and training flight. The flight instructor planned to fly to a nearby turf runway where he would demonstrate a soft-field takeoff. While departing from the turf runway, the flight instructor flew the airplane in ground effect longer than was necessary and then turned left crosswind while still at a low altitude. The airplane’s left wing subsequently contacted a barbed wire fence, and the wire wrapped around the wing. The flight instructor returned to the airport, landed uneventfully, and removed the barbed wire from the wing. He subsequently performed a preflight inspection, and after nothing that the flight control surfaces were operating normally, returned to the airplane’s home airport uneventfully. Subsequent examination of the airplane revealed the left wing had been substantially damaged. The flight instructor reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44704
- Reported as
- Piper PA28 (151)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7515008
- Built
- 1974
- Airframe hours
- 5,084
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 2026
- Destination
- PIE · St Petersburg, FL
- Airport
- 48X · Manatee, runway 07, 3,120 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 2, 2025
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 1,575 total · 430 in this make and model · 1,506 as pilot in command · 223 in the last 90 days · 46 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 3, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 227 total · 227 in this make and model · 90 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 79 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- SPG, 9 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KSPG 241153Z 10006KT 10SM CLR 28/26 A3006 RMK AO2 SLP177 T02830256 10289 20278 53005
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 11, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 MB in all.