Piper PA28R N52737

Summary

On 11 November 2018 at about 18:14 local time, a Piper PA28R registered N52737 was involved in an accident near Lake City, Florida, United States. 4 people were on board and 3 were seriously injured, one 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

11 November 2018 at 18:14

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake City, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Cannon Creek Airpark (15FL)

Coordinates

30.1506, -82.6650

Aircraft

Piper PA28R

Registration

N52737

Category

Airplane

Year built

1989

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lake City → Lake City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA19LA041

3 people were seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to attain adequate airspeed before attempting the takeoff with a tailwind, which resulted in the airplane being unable to sustain flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was attempting to depart from a 2,600-ft-long turf runway with a right quartering tailwind with three passengers onboard. A witness estimated that the tailwind was about 8 knots. The pilot reported that the only thing he could recall about the flight was that he had "difficulty getting the airplane into the air." Another witness reported that, immediately after becoming airborne, the airplane entered a series of pitch oscillations; during each oscillation, the airplane appeared to be near the stall speed and lose altitude. After several oscillations, the airplane neared the left side of the runway and impacted treetops before impacting the ground and cartwheeling. One of the witnesses stated that the engine sound did not change during takeoff and that the engine appeared to be running well the entire time. Given the evidence, it is likely that the pilot's failure to attain adequate airspeed before attempting the takeoff with a tailwind, which led to the airplane being unable to sustain flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.