Piper PA-28-140 N560FL

Summary

On 8 June 2003 at about 23:00 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N560FL was involved in an accident near Aurora, New York, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 June 2003 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Aurora, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Private (NONE)

Coordinates

42.7117, -76.6217

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N560FL

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Aurora → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC03LA124

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to obtain the proper climb rate.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was departing to the south on his private 2,000-foot-long, 60-foot-wide, grass runway. He stated the airplane was configured with "two notches" of flaps. He rotated at 60 mph, and climbed at 75 mph. The pilot then realized that the airplane was not climbing fast enough to clear the 50-foot-high trees located at the end of the runway. As the airplane approached the trees, the pilot made a right turn; however, the left wing struck a tree and the airplane came to rest in a field. The pilot reported that the airplane's gross weight at the time of the accident was about 1,900 pounds. The weather reported at an airport about 22 miles southwest of the accident site, about the time of the accident included winds from 150 degrees at 10 knots, with 17 knot gusts, a temperature of 73 degrees F, and an altimeter setting of 29.73 in/hg. Review of the takeoff distance chart in the airplane owner's handbook revealed that the distance to clear a 50-foot obstacle, at a gross weight of 1,950 pounds was about 1,900 feet. However, the chart was predicated on a takeoff from a level hard surface runway, in a no wind, zero flap configuration.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.