Incident Details
On August 25, 2017, at approximately 1000 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA28R-180, registration N3805T, exhibited substantial damage during a preflight inspection at Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport (EQY) in Monroe, North Carolina. A flight instructor and a student pilot were preparing for an instructional flight operated by Pressley Aviation LLC when they observed a small hole in the upper surface of the left wing and skin wrinkling on both the upper and lower surfaces of the left wing. The time and date of the actual accident are unknown.
Previous Flights
According to operator records, the airplane, which was based at EQY, had flown twice on the previous day. The first flight occurred in the morning and was conducted by the same flight instructor and student pilot who later discovered the damage. They reported that no damage was present during their postflight inspection after that flight. The airplane was then flown in the afternoon by another pilot as a personal flight. That pilot did not notice the damage during his preflight inspection. However, photographs taken by a passenger on that flight showed the damage visible both on the ground prior to departure and during takeoff.
Examination
Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the left wing spar.