- Date
- January 12, 1989, 14:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Terra Ceia, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2439BPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890112013579A
- Case key
- 32384
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 improper in-flight planning/decision by the student pilot. Factors related to the accident were: tailwind conditions during the landing and the proximity of the ditch to the selected landing area.
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
The student plt stated that during a solo x-country flt, he heard unusual sounds, but there was no eng failure or malfunction. He elected to make a precautionary landing in a sod field. After landing with a tailwind, he was unable to stop the acft before it continued into a ditch & was damaged. Company personnel were unable to find any preimpact problems.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2439B
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-79A0062
- Airframe hours
- 4,601
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Aero Leasing, Inc., doing business as Kitty Hawk Flight School
- Registered owner
- Abbott, Carl R.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 3, 1988 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- FLL · Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Destination
- SRQ · Sarasota, FL
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
- 32
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 92 total · 61 in this make and model · 14 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SRQ, 14 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.