Piper PA-17 N4814H

Summary

On 21 August 2023 at about 13:55 local time, a Piper PA-17 registered N4814H was involved in an accident near Millbrook, New York, United States. One person was 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

21 August 2023 at 13:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Millbrook, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Sky Acres (44N)

Coordinates

41.7074, -73.7380

Aircraft

Piper PA-17

Registration

N4814H

Category

Airplane

Year built

1948

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Poughkeepsie → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA343

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing, which resulted in a ground loop.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was landing the vintage, tailwheel-equipped airplane. As he touched down on the paved runway that had slight downhill, the pilot described that he “tapped” the brakes, and the right brake “grabbed a little harder than the left.” The pilot attempted to correct with rudder but the airplane ground looped after the right main landing gear separated from the fuselage. The airplane came to rest in the grass area next to the runway. During the accident sequence, the left wing and fuselage were substantially damaged. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane after the accident did not observe any abnormalities of the airplane’s brakes. Based on the lack of any anomalous findings during the postaccident examination of the brakes, it is likely that the pilot lost directional control of the tailwheel-equipped during landing, which resulted in a ground loop.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.