Piper PA 12 N47FP

Summary

On 20 December 2017 at about 21:30 local time, a Piper PA 12 registered N47FP was involved in an accident near Angleton, Texas, United States. 2 people were 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 December 2017 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Angleton, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Texas Gulf Coast Regional (LBX)

Coordinates

29.1086, -95.4619

Aircraft

Piper PA 12

Registration

N47FP

Category

Airplane

Year built

1947

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Angleton → Angleton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN18LA071

Nobody was injured.

The passenger's inadvertent activation of the left brake during landing, which resulted in a loss of directional control and a runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting a personal flight with a passenger. He indicated that after an uneventful flight, he performed a pattern approach to the runway for a touch-and-go landing. After touchdown, when the pilot lowered the left wheel to the ground, the airplane immediately and uncontrollably veered sharply to the left. The pilot applied full right rudder and immediately held the stick full right and aft to keep the airplane from ground looping or cartwheeling. The pilot was unable to regain directional control of the airplane, and it departed the runway to the left and collided with two precision approach path indicator lights before coming to a stop. Braking marks on the runway and grass correlated to the left main landing gear tire as it passed from the runway surface onto the grass. Postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies with the left brake system. After the brake examination, the pilot stated that the passenger could have inadvertently had his foot on the brake pedal during the landing rollout. Because the examination did not reveal any anomalies with the brakes, it is likely that the passenger inadvertently activated the left brake pedal during the landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.