No fatalities

PIPER PA28 181 accident at Melbourne, FL, 13 Feb 2024

Melbourne, FL, United States

On February 13, 2024, a PIPER PA28 181 operated by FIT Aviation, LLC was involved in an aviation accident near Melbourne, FL. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot receiving instruction’s failure to correctly identify the runway centerline prior to initiating the nighttime takeoff, which resulted in a collision with a runway edge light and subsequent runway excursion. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 2026-08-03Data APIEditorial standards

Probable cause

The pilot receiving instruction’s failure to correctly identify the runway centerline prior to initiating the nighttime takeoff, which resulted in a collision with a runway edge light and subsequent runway excursion. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's inadequate monitoring of the pilot.

— NTSB Determination

Contributing factors

Student/instructed pilotInstructor/check pilotResponse/compensation