- Date
- January 9, 1996, 10:32 local (16:32 UTC)
- Place
- Port Mansfield, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9840TPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960109002479A
- Case key
- 19738
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
Deer running onto the runway as the student pilot was landing. A factor relating to the accident was: the soft terrain that was encountered as the pilot was maneuvering to avoid a collision.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
After the airplane touched down during a landing, deer ran onto the runway. The pilot started to abort the landing (go around); however, he reported that the power 'didn't increase fast enough.' He aborted the go-around, but the airplane encountered soft/sandy terrain beside the runway during the roll-out. Subsequently, the nose gear collapsed resulting in structural damage.
Factual narrative
On January 9, 1996, at 1032 central standard time, a Piper PA-38- 112, N9840T, collided with terrain during an aborted takeoff at the Charles R. Johnson Airport, Port Mansfield, Texas. The student pilot was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was being operated by Flight Training Systems, Inc., dba Southwind, under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a VFR flight plan was filed for the solo cross country instructional flight.
During interviews, conducted by the investigator-in-charge, and on the enclosed Pilot/Operator Report, the operator and pilot reported the following. The flight departed Brownsville, Texas, with en route stops planned for Edinburg, and Port Mansfield, Texas. After touching down on runway 12, deer appeared out of the bushes and ran onto the runway. The pilot reported applying power; however, "the power didn't increase fast enough" and the pilot aborted the takeoff. During the rollout on the grassy area along the side of the runway, the nose gear collapsed in the soft sand and the aileron struck a sand bank. Structural damage was also sustained by the engine firewall and the engine mount.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9840T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-78A0222
- Airframe hours
- 3,381
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Flight Training Systems, Inc., doing business as Southwind
- Registered owner
- Avelease, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 31, 1995 · 42 hours before
- Departed
- T05
- Destination
- BRO · Brownsville, TX
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- T05 · Charles R. Johnson, runway 12, 3,200 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 40 total · 40 in this make and model · 40 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.