Piper PA-28-161 N29496

Summary

On 20 June 2009 at about 18:45 local time, a Piper PA-28-161 registered N29496, operated by Alpha One Flight School, was involved in an accident near Plymouth, Massachusetts, 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

20 June 2009 at 18:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States

Nearest airport

Plymouth Municipal Airport (PYM)

Coordinates

41.9089, -70.7286

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-161

Registration

N29496

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Alpha One Flight School

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Plymouth → Plymouth

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09LA358

2 people had minor injuries.

The CFI's inadequate preflight planning and delay to abort the takeoff from the soft takeoff area.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After performing several takeoffs and landings on runway 24, the certified flight instructor (CFI) elected to use the grass area parallel to runway 33 in order to demonstrate soft-field takeoffs to the student pilot. Once airborne the CFI lowered the nose of the airplane in order to accelerate to their predetermined climbout speed of 79 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS). According to the CFI, the airplane accelerated fairly normally to 55 KIAS, then slowly accelerated to 60 KIAS, at which point the airspeed "stagnated." The CFI made the decision to discontinue the takeoff and land on the remaining portion of the grass area. She allowed the airplane to "float over" the paved portion of a perpendicular runway and touched down on the main landing gear on the other side of the paved portion. The airplane made contact with a low berm and the nosegear collapsed. The grass area that was used for this flight was not a runway and was approximately 1,000 feet in length. The pilot operating handbook for this airplane make and model does not prohibit the departure from a non-paved surface area; however, the only performance data that was provided by the manufacturer requires a "paved, level, dry runway."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.