8 May 2008: Piper PA-28-181 — Naperville Flying Club

8 May 2008: Piper PA-28-181 — Naperville Flying Club

No fatalities • Naperville, IL, United States

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to execute a go-around. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's excessive airspeed during touchdown, which resulted in the runway overrun.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

The pilot reported that he planned the local flight in order to warm up the engine prior to an oil change. Upon returning to the airport, he entered a left downwind for runway 18 (2,575 feet by 30 feet, asphalt). On final approach he noticed that the airspeed was 75 knots instead of 70 knots, so he reduced engine power. However, the airplane did not slow sufficiently and he crossed the runway threshold faster than normal. The airplane ballooned during the flare and touched down short of midfield. He applied maximum braking, but was unable to stop on the remaining pavement. He directed the airplane between some trees at the end of the runway. After the airplane came to a stop he shut off the ignition and battery, and exited through the luggage door. The pilot reported that there were no failures or malfunctions associated with the airplane prior to the accident. He commented that he should have executed a go-around and returned for another landing at the proper approach speed.

Contributing factors

  • factor Incorrect use/operation
  • cause Pilot
  • Tree(s)

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 060/15kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.