Piper PA28-151 N41568

Summary

On 20 March 2009 at about 18:40 local time, a Piper PA28-151 registered N41568, operated by Phill-Air Inc, was involved in an accident near Dover, Delaware, 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

20 March 2009 at 18:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Dover, Delaware, United States

Nearest airport

Delaware Airpark (33N)

Coordinates

39.2178, -75.5911

Aircraft

Piper PA28-151

Registration

N41568

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Phill-Air Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dover → Dover

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09CA207

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot conducted one landing on runway 27, but he "did not like it" because it was "gusty," so he opted to conduct a second landing. The pilot stated that as the airplane was "nearing touchdown," it unexpectedly began a turn to the left. The airplane first touched down approximately 75 feet left of the edge of the runway. It continued on a southerly arc away from the runway, passed through an aircraft tie-down area, and struck two parked airplanes. The accident airplane's right wing separated from the fuselage at the wing root, and the airplane came to rest approximately 346 feet from the centerline of the runway. Runway 27 was 3,582 feet long and 60 feet wide, with a displaced threshold of 350 feet. The only wind information available at the accident airport was a wind sock. About the time of the accident, winds at an airport 9 miles southeast of the airport were reported to be from 330 degrees at 12 knots, with gusts to 18 knots. Calculations revealed that if these winds were present at the accident airport, they would have resulted in crosswind components from 11.7 to 17.5 knots. A required cockpit placard in the airplane stated that the "demonstrated crosswind component" was 17 knots. The pilot reported that he obtained his weather information from commercial television and radio stations. He did not report experiencing any mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane during the accident landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.