- Date
- February 6, 2000, 16:20 local (21:20 UTC)
- Place
- Vincentown, NJ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N624FLPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000206013159A
- Case key
- 48641
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 CFI's delay in remedial action after the student pilot lost control of the airplane. A factor in the accident was the CFI's lack of total experience in flight instruction.
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
While landing, the student pilot flared about 15-20 feet above the runway. The airplane then made a 'rapid movement' to the left, and before any power or control correction could be made by the CFI, the airplane struck a snow bank. At the time of the accident, the CFI had accumulated about 14 hours total experience as a flight instructor.
Factual narrative
On February 6, 2000, about 1620 Eastern Standard Time, a Piper PA-28-140, N624FL, was substantially damaged while landing at the Red Lion Airport, Vincentown, New Jersey. The certificated flight instructor (CFI), and student pilot, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the CFI stated that, while landing on Runway 23, a 2,880-foot long by 50-foot wide asphalt runway, "a gust of wind caused [him] to loose control of the airplane and go off the side of the runway." The airplane impacted a snow bank and tore off the left wing.
The CFI additionally stated in a narrative of the accident that the student pilot was flying the airplane at the time of the accident. After crossing the threshold, the student pilot flared about 15-20 feet above the runway. The airplane then made a "rapid movement" to the left, and before any power or control correction could be made, the airplane struck a snow bank.
At the time of the accident, the CFI had accumulated about 14 hours of total flight instruction experience, 9 hours of which were in make and model.
The winds reported by an airport located 5 miles to the southeast, at 1555 were, from 270 degrees at 8 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N624FL
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7125513
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Northeast Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- PNE · Philadelphia, PA
- Destination
- N73
- Airport
- N73 · Red Lion Airport, runway 23, 2,880 × 50 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
- 31
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 364 total · 11 in this make and model · 284 as pilot in command · 48 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 14 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- WRI, 5 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.
Other investigations on N624FL · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.