Piper PA-28-140 Runway Excursion at Cuatro Vientos Airport (EC-DBH)

Incident Overview and Aircraft Details On July 21, 2001, at 20:20 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 with registration EC-DBH, powered by a single Lycoming O-320-D3G engine, was involved in an incident at Cuatro Vientos Airport. The aircraft was being flown by a 20-year-old student pilot with 87 total flight hours and 39 hours on type, who was completing a supervised cross-country training flight. ## Sequence of Events After landing on runway 10-28, the pilot attempted to exit the runway using a rapid exit designed for the opposite runway end. During the turn, the pilot applied excessive braking to the left wheel while trying to correct the aircraft's path. This action caused a loss of control, resulting in the aircraft leaving the paved surface. The nose wheel broke, the nose and propeller struck the ground, and the right wing came into contact with the terrain. The pilot evacuated the aircraft unassisted and was uninjured. ## Environmental and Operational Factors Meteorological records indicated calm winds of 2 knots from 270 degrees at the time of the incident. The airport's runway 10-28 is 1,500 meters long and 30 meters wide. The rapid exit used by the pilot was intended for landings on runway 10, making it a very tight turn when used as an exit for runway 28. The distance from the runway 28 threshold to the exit was 550 meters.