- Date
- May 24, 2006, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Tangier Island, VA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N5180LPiper PA-28-280
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 3, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20060524007799A
- Case key
- 63759
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 failure to maintain directional control during takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with a ditch. A factor was the rough runway condition.
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 he initiated a takeoff roll on runway 02, a 2,950-foot-long, 75-foot-wide, asphalt runway. During rotation, the main landing gear traveled over bumps on the runway, and the airplane veered left. The pilot attempted to correct the airplane, but the main landing gear traveled over another series of bumps on the runway, and the airplane veered further left. The airplane subsequently traveled off the left side of the runway, and struck a ditch.
Factual narrative
The pilot of a Piper PA-28-180 stated that he initiated a takeoff roll on runway 2; a 2,950-foot-long, 75-foot-wide, asphalt runway. During rotation, the main landing gear traveled over bumps on the runway, and the airplane veered left. The pilot attempted to correct the airplane, but the main landing gear traveled over another series of bumps on the runway, and the airplane veered further left. The airplane subsequently traveled off the left side of the runway, and struck a ditch. The wind reported at a nearby airport, about the time of the accident, was from 340 degrees at 7 knots, varying from 289 degrees to 029 degrees.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5180L
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-280
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-4466
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John G. Tillery
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- TGI · Tangier Island, VA
- Destination
- PVG · Portsmouth, VA
- Airport
- TGI · Tangier Island Airport, runway 2, 2,950 × 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 126 total · 31 in this make and model · 65 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 0 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- TGI, 12 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.