- Date
- September 16, 2016, 19:50 local (23:50 UTC)
- Place
- Raleigh, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4002TBeech B23
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report January 18, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20160916024329A
- Case key
- 94045
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 pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a runway excursion.
Findings · 5
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 pilot reported that he crossed midfield, entered the traffic pattern, and then flew down the centerline to "view the runway", but it was "getting dark and difficult to see". The pilot further reported that after touchdown the runway conditions were worse than he had expected and "heavy vegetation pulled" the airplane to the left. The airplane veered off the runway to the left and impacted a group of small pine trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he crossed midfield, entered the traffic pattern, and then flew down the centerline to "view the runway", but it was "getting dark and difficult to see". The pilot further reported that after touchdown the runway conditions were worse than he had expected and "heavy vegetation pulled" the airplane to the left. The airplane veered off the runway to the left and impacted a group of small pine trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4002T
- Reported as
- Beech B23
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- M-1108
- Built
- 1969
- Airframe hours
- 2,600
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A2G, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 5, 2015
- Departed
- SVH · Statesville, NC
- Destination
- 5W5 · Raleigh, NC
- Flight plan
- VFR/IFR
- Airport
- 5W5 · Triple W, runway 16, 3,004 × 40 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Handheld GPS
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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 10, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 236 total · 173 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 50° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- KHRJ, 14 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 16, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.