Piper PA-28-161 N9233X

Summary

On 7 April 2008 at about 20:40 local time, a Piper PA-28-161 registered N9233X, operated by FlightSafety Academy, was involved in an accident near Vero Beach, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 April 2008 at 20:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Vero Beach, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Vero Beach Municipal (VRB)

Coordinates

27.6592, -80.4189

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-161

Registration

N9233X

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

FlightSafety Academy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Vero Beach → Vero Beach

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08CA159

2 people had minor injuries.

The student pilot's loss of directional control on landing. Contributing to the accident was the crosswind and wind gusts.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The solo student pilot of the PA-28 was practicing at his home airport when, just after touchdown, the airplane veered off the runway and encountered a ditch. The tower-controlled airport was configured with two parallel runways and one intersecting runway. About 41 minutes prior to the accident, the recorded winds were 020 degrees at 10 knots, and the tower was directing traffic to use runways 11R and 11L. During the first landing rollout, the pilot opted to perform a touch and go instead of a full stop, due to his concerns about the winds, and his ability to control the airplane on the ground. His second approach to the same runway resulted in a go-around, again due to the winds. On the third approach, the airplane bounced, veered off the left side of the runway, encountered a ditch, and stopped. The recorded winds 13 minutes after the accident were from 350 degrees at 13 knots, with gusts to 17 knots. Subsequent to the accident, the pilot stated that he was uncomfortable with the wind and runway combination, but that he lacked the confidence to challenge the tower's runway selection. Shortly after the accident, the control tower switched operations to the single runway to align traffic with the prevailing wind.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.