- Date
- July 22, 2017, 20:36 local (Jul 23, 2017, 00:36 UTC)
- Place
- Whaleyville, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2814TPiper PA 28-180
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report March 14, 2018
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20170722012579A
- Case key
- 95642
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 inadvertent brake application during the landing roll, which resulted in a loss of directional control.
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
According to the pilot, the airplane touched down on the approach end of the grass airstrip. During the landing roll, he did not realize that his "right foot was resting against the right toe brake." The airplane exited the right side of the airstrip and struck trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing spar and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot did not possess a Federal Aviation Administration pilot certificate. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, he touched down on the approach end of the grass airstrip. During the landing roll, he did not realize that, his "right foot was resting against the right toe brake." The airplane exited the right side of the airstrip and struck trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing spar and the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot did not possess a Federal Aviation Administration pilot certificate. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2814T
- Reported as
- Piper PA 28-180 (180)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7205226
- Built
- 1972
- Airframe hours
- 4,716
- Engine
- Lycoming O&VO-360 SER, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 9, 2017
- Departed
- Suffolk, VA
- Destination
- SAME · Suffolk, VA
- Airport
- VG37 · Umphlett Airstrip, runway 19, 2,550 × 60 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 225 total · 150 in this make and model · 50 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 240° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- KSFQ, 6 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 30, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.5 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.