Pilot Debrief

Piper PA32RT near Honesdale, PA — 2020-08-01

Final reportERA20LA274
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Date
2020-08-01
Location
Honesdale, PA, USA
Airport
N30
Aircraft
Piper PA32RT
Registration
N3025L
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Takeoff roll

Probable cause

The pilot’s premature rotation for takeoff, which resulted in a tail strike and subsequent runway excursion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight planning, which failed to accurately determine and account for the effects of high-density altitude on performance.

NTSB narrative

The pilot and four passengers boarded the airplane for a personal cross-country flight. Although the pilot reported that the airplane veered to the left uncontrollably during the takeoff roll, security camera video showed that the airplane tracked the runway heading until the airplane’s pitch attitude increased to the point where a tail strike occurred about 1,660 ft down the 2,986-ft-long runway. The nose of the airplane then pitched down rapidly; the nose landing gear collapsed; and the airplane veered off the left side of the runway in a nose-low attitude, struck vegetation and terrain, and came to rest. No evidence of any preimpact failures or malfunctions was found during postaccident examination of the airplane. According to the pilot’s preflight performance calculations, the airplane was about 127.3 pounds below maximum gross weight; the density altitude was 1,227 ft; and the airplane’s estimated takeoff ground roll was 1,500 to 1,600 ft. Review of the weather conditions present at the time of the accident indicated that the density altitude was 2,622 ft. According to the performance charts for the airplane, at a density altitude of 2,622 ft and the airplane weight calculated by the pilot, the airplane’s takeoff ground roll would be about 1,630 ft. A Koch chart indicated that for the accident conditions as compared to standard temperature sea level values, a 28% increase in takeoff distance should have been anticipated by the pilot along with a 21% decrease in climb rate.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted takeoff when veering began.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Video
  • Photos
  • 11 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents11

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