23 Aug 2009: PIPER PA-22

23 Aug 2009: PIPER PA-22 — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Tuskegee, AL, United States

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the aborted landing.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

At the completion of a cross country flight, the pilot entered the traffic pattern for a landing on runway 31. The pilot was advised via the airport Unicom frequency that the winds were unpredictable, and observed that “the windsock indicated little if any wind.” After the flare for landing on the 5,003-foot-long by 100-foot-wide asphalt runway, the tail-wheel-equipped airplane "weathervaned" to the right. The pilot then decided to abort the landing; however the airplane departed the right side of the runway and impacted a berm, resulting in serious injury to the pilot and substantial damage to the airplane. Winds recorded 16 nautical miles northeast of the airport were aligned with the runway heading at 9 knots, gusting to 14 knots. Another airport located 31 nautical miles northwest recorded winds at 330 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 19 knots. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. The inspector found skid marks from both tires on the runway surface and he noted that the airplane sustained damage to the engine firewall, fuselage, and wings.

Contributing factors

  • cause Pilot
  • cause Directional control — Not attained/maintained
  • Effect on operation

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 310/09kt, 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.