- Date
- August 25, 1996, 13:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Aiken, SC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2CEPiper J3
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 30, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960825044579A
- Case key
- 38078
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 improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing; and his loss of directional control, which was followed by impact with trees.
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 pilot stated that his right foot bumped on the right brake during a 'hard landing,' causing the airplane to turn to the right toward trees. He elected to abort the landing, but after verring to the right, the airplane struck trees. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any preimpact discrepancy with the brakes or flight controls.
Factual narrative
On August 25, 1996, about 1345 eastern daylight time, a Piper J3, N2CE, registered to a private owner, operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91, personal flight, crashed while on an aborted landing at the Aiken Airport, Aiken, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private pilot was not injured.
After landing, during a touch-and-go, the pilot stated that the cause of the accident was, "...[his] right foot bumping on [the] right brake during [a] hard landing, caused [the] airplane [to] turn to [the] right toward trees...." The pilot elected to abort the landing, the airplane veered to the right, and struck trees.
Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any discrepancies with the brakes, or the flight controls.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2CE
- Reported as
- Piper J3
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 334-1
- Airframe hours
- 405
- Engine
- Continental C90-12-F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Kent Ingram
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 26, 1996 · 405 hours before
- Departed
- AIK
- Airport
- AIK · Aiken, runway 24, 5,000 × 100 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 265 total · 20 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.