Piper PA-28-140 N1651J

Summary

On 13 August 2021 at about 01:00 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N1651J was involved in an accident near Panguitch, Utah, United States. 3 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

13 August 2021 at 01:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Panguitch, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Panguitch Muni (U55)

Coordinates

37.8557, -112.3880

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N1651J

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA319

Nobody was injured.

The airplane’s inability to maintain altitude during the initial climb due to a degradation in the airplane’s performance due to high-density altitude conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to conduct preflight performance planning calculations.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, he conducted a maximum performance takeoff by adding full power and holding the brakes until engine RPM stabilized. The pilot released the brakes, and upon reaching rotation speed, the airplane drifted left. He maneuvered the airplane toward the runway centerline, and it touched down onto the runway briefly before it became airborne again. The airplane ascended to about 100 ft above ground level, before it began descending. The pilot stated that, there was no available runway remaining, so he initiated a forced landing to the uneven terrain ahead. During the landing roll, the airplane struck a fence and vegetation substantially damaging the fuselage. The pilot reported that prior to takeoff, he calculated the airplane’s weight with passengers and fuel, and determined it to be about 20 pounds under the maximum gross weight of the airplane. However, the pilot did not conduct preflight performance calculations prior to takeoff. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that if he took more time in preflight preparations, he would have noticed that the density altitude was too high to takeoff. The pilot operating handbook take-off distance vs. density altitude chart states “extrapolation of chart above 7,000 ft. [density altitude] is invalid. The calculated density altitude at the time of the accident was 9,000 ft mean sea level (msl).

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.