- Date
- September 8, 2002, 18:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Titusville, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6947WPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 17, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20020908037579A
- Case key
- 55704
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 student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll.
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 pilot performed five uneventful practice landings. During the sixth landing attempt, the airplane veered off the right side of the runway and traveled though a ditch, before it came to rest. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any pre-impact malfunctions; nor did the pilot report any. The student pilot reported 65 hours of total flight experience, all in make and model.
Factual narrative
On September 8, 2002, about 1830 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140, N6947W, was substantially damaged while landing at the Titusville Airport, Titusville, Pennsylvania. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the student pilot, she performed five uneventful practice landings to runway 36, a 4,902 foot-long, 75 foot-wide, asphalt runway. During the sixth landing attempt, the airplane veered off the right side of the runway and traveled through a ditch, before it came to rest.
A witness at the airport stated that the touchdown seemed normal; however after a "short roll, the airplane appeared to go sideways..."
Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any pre-impact malfunctions; nor did the student pilot report any.
The student pilot reported 65 hours of total flight experience, all in make and model.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6947W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-21132
- Airframe hours
- 6,740
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Joyce C. Willison
- Registered owner
- Gary A. Willison
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 9, 2002
- Departed
- 6G1 · Titusville, PA
- Destination
- 6G1 · Titusville, PA
- Airport
- 6G1 · Titusville, runway 36, 4,902 × 75 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 65 total · 65 in this make and model · 3 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.25 inHg
- Observed at
- FKL, 15 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.