Piper PA-28-140 N8403R

Summary

On 11 May 2009 at about 16:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N8403R was involved in an accident near Danville, Pennsylvania, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 May 2009 at 16:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Danville, Pennsylvania, United States

Nearest airport

Danville Airport (8N8)

Coordinates

40.9486, -76.6428

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N8403R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lakewood → Danville

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09CA287

1 person was seriously injured.

The student pilot's failure to maintain control during a landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was landing at the conclusion of a cross-country solo flight. He reported that he encountered windshear about 3 feet above Runway 27, which caused a loss of control and he touched down on the nosewheel. A certificated flight instructor, who witnessed the accident, stated that the airplane was "about 20-30 feet" and began an "abrupt descent." The airplane impacted the runway hard. The impact resulted in a serious injury to the student pilot and minor damage to the airplane. The winds reported at an airport 12 miles southwest of the accident location, about the time of the accident, were variable from 330 degrees to 060 degrees at 7 knots. Neither the student pilot nor a Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported any preexisting mechanical failures or malfunctions of the airplane. The student pilot reported 87 hours of flight experience in the same make and model as the accident airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.