Piper PA-28R-200 N33840

Summary

On 16 May 2004 at about 18:15 local time, a Piper PA-28R-200 registered N33840, operated by William R. Caudle, was involved in an accident near Everglades City, Florida, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 May 2004 at 18:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Everglades City, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Everglades Airpark (X01)

Coordinates

25.8486, -81.3900

Aircraft

Piper PA-28R-200

Registration

N33840

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

William R. Caudle

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Everglades City → Tampa

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA04LA084

4 people were seriously injured.

The failure of the pilot to maintain airspeed during climb after takeoff resulting in an inadvertent stall, uncontrolled descent, and impact in a wooded area.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he performed a run-up of the engine prior to departing the airport and found no problems. He said he then back-taxied to runway 15 for departure and during the take-off roll, the engine seemed to be fine. He further stated that at 65-68 knots he rotated but the aircraft did not leave the ground so he let the aircraft accelerate to 75 knots. The pilot says he then pulled back on the yoke, and the aircraft lifted off the runway and torqued to the left which he attempted to counteract by using the right rudder. He said that at this point the engine seemed "diminished" but that it was not sputtering. He said he then lowered the nose and the aircraft began descending at which time he lowered the landing gear. He says he saw a small island of trees and set the aircraft down in the trees. The passenger seated in the right front seat stated that before takeoff the pilot performed an engine check and it was running fine. During the takeoff roll the pilot pulled the aircraft up at about 65 miles per hour. He thought they were lifting off early for they still had over half of the runway left. The pilot pulled the nose up too steep and at about 300 feet the airplane began to stall and the left wing dropped. The pilot tried to gain speed by dropping the nose and leveling off. They did not have enough altitude and the airplane kept dropping and went into the trees. As far as he could tell there was nothing wrong with the airplane. Postcrash examination and testing of the airplane structure and flight control systems, airplane and engine fuel system, engine, propeller, fuel control, propeller governor, and the stall warning system switch showed no evidence of precrash failure or malfunction.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.