Piper PA-28-161 N8258S

Summary

On 10 November 1998 at about 22:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-161 registered N8258S was involved in an accident near Santa Barbara, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 November 1998 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Barbara, California, United States

Nearest airport

Santa Barbara Municipal (SBA)

Coordinates

34.4267, -119.8398

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-161

Registration

N8258S

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Monica → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX99LA032

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the existing crosswind condition and failure to maintain proper runway alignment during landing flare.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The aircraft collided with a runway marker sign during landing while the student pilot was on his first solo cross-country flight. The pilot reported that, while flaring for landing, he encountered a 'strong' crosswind from the right and that he landed with the aircraft angled toward the left side of the 75-foot-wide runway. He tried to correct his path back toward the runway centerline but struck a runway perimeter sign on the left edge of the runway with the left main landing gear. Thirty-five minutes before the accident, a quartering right headwind was reported at 6 knots and 25 minutes after the accident a quartering right headwind was reported at 7 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.