- Date
- August 9, 2024, 12:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Fallbrook, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N56631Piper PA-32-300
- Defining event
- Taxi-to runway: Ground collision
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20240809013119A
- Case key
- 194958
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 clearance from an obstacle during taxi operations.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot stated that while taxiing, the path leading to the taxiway had a series of abrupt turns. He misjudged one of the turns and struck a 10-inch rectangular steel post with the left main gear. The airplane momentarily lifted and then dropped onto the left wing. He immediately stopped the airplane and shut down the engine. During the accident sequence, the airplane sustained spar damage to the left wing. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N56631
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-7440010
- Built
- 1973
- Airframe hours
- 7,439
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-KIAS, 300 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 2024 · 16 hours before
- Airport
- L18 · Fallbrook Community Airpark
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B
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
- 77
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 25, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3,640 total · 240 in this make and model · 3,640 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- KOKB, 10 nm away
- METAR
- KOKB 231952Z AUTO 24010KT 8SM CLR 25/16 A2996 RMK AO2 SLP146 T02500161
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 6, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.