Piper PA-28-181 N472A

Summary

On 16 December 2025 at about 22:00 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N472A, operated by Archer Aircraft LLC, was involved in an accident near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 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

16 December 2025 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Fort Lauderdale Exec (FXE)

Coordinates

26.0717, -80.1497

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N472A

Category

Airplane

Year built

2013

Engines

1

Operator

Archer Aircraft LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA26LA074

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot’s improper landing flare and the flight instructor’s inadequate remedial action, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose landing gear collapse.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that the student pilot began the landing flare too high, then suddenly pitched the airplane up 10 to 15 degrees. The flight instructor took control of the airplane and added engine power but the airplane landed hard, bounced, and began to porpoise down the runway, during which the nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and engine mount. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.