Piper PA-28-181 N771ND

Summary

On 28 May 2023 at about 17:40 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N771ND, operated by University of North Dakota, was involved in an accident near Grand Forks, North Dakota, 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

28 May 2023 at 17:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States

Nearest airport

Grand Forks Intl (GFK)

Coordinates

47.9476, -97.1662

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N771ND

Category

Airplane

Year built

2018

Engines

1

Operator

University of North Dakota

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN23LA234

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot’s failure to attain a proper takeoff attitude while demonstrating a soft field takeoff and his improper control inputs resulting in a dragged wing. Contributing to the accident were the gusting wind conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and his student were performing a soft field take off following a touch-and-go landing. The operator reported that the airplane started to drift to the left with a “higher than normal” pitch attitude and the airplane encountered a wind gust. The right wing dropped and contacted the runway surface. According to the flight instructor, during the take-off, the student “instantly” applied right aileron, instead of right rudder, to maintain the runway centerline. The flight instructor took over controls and continued the takeoff. While in the traffic pattern, the flight instructor noticed an “abnormality” on the right wing and landed the airplane without further incident. A visual inspection found that the right aileron sustained substantial damage. The operator stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. About the time of the accident wind was recorded as 160° at 17 knots with gusts to 29 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.