Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA-28 near Lucedale, MS — 2022-08-15

Final reportCEN22LA388
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Date
2022-08-15
Location
Lucedale, MS, USA
Airport
22MS
Aircraft
PIPER PA-28
Registration
N5341W
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control while landing on the wet turf runway with a higher speed.

NTSB narrative

While landing on a wet turf runway, the pilot used 30° of flaps and an approach speed of about 75 knots so he could land softly. A witness observed that the airplane’s speed during rollout was faster than normal. During the landing roll the airplane started to slide to the left. The pilot attempted to keep the airplane in the center of the runway. The airplane then turned violently to the left, departed the runway, and impacted a peanut field. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted resulting in substantial damage to the right wing and vertical stabilizer. A postaccident examination revealed the nosewheel tire pressure was low and the shimmy dampener had little resistance in either direction. No anomalies were observed with the main landing gear brake assemblies or tires that would have precluded normal operations. The pilot’s loss of directional control on the wet turf runway was likely due to the higher-than-normal touchdown and rollout speeds on a wet turf runway. It is possible that the low tire pressure and shimmy dampener may have contributed to the pilot’s inability to regain control of the airplane; however, investigators were not able to establish the extent that this would have contributed to the accident.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have chosen a different landing technique for turf runway.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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