Piper PA28 N132AV

Summary

On 2 September 2017 at about 22:10 local time, a Piper PA28 registered N132AV was involved in an accident near Lyndonville, Vermont, United States. 3 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

2 September 2017 at 22:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Lyndonville, Vermont, United States

Nearest airport

Caledonia County (CDA)

Coordinates

44.5692, -72.0181

Aircraft

Piper PA28

Registration

N132AV

Category

Airplane

Year built

1984

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lyndonville → Lyndonville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA17LA312

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's loss of airplane control during takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot stated that he performed a preflight inspection of the airplane before an earlier flight that day. Before departing on the accident flight with two passengers, he cautioned a friend and fellow pilot about how his airplane "needed more time to build speed" during the takeoff roll. After taxi, the pilot positioned the airplane on the runway for departure and performed a flight control deflection check. He stated that there was corresponding movement with the flight control surfaces but that the resistance in the controls was light; his concern led him to perform the check eight times before takeoff. The pilot stated that after rotation, the airplane was unresponsive, or was slow to respond, in the roll axis when he applied aileron corrections. He closed the throttle and performed a forced landing to the grassy area beyond the departure end of the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings, cabin, empennage, and tail section. During postaccident examination of the airplane, flight control continuity was confirmed to all flight control surfaces; however, the left aileron was significantly impact damaged, and a break was noted in its control push-pull rod. Further examination of the control rod revealed that the fracture features were consistent with an overstress fracture; there was no evidence of a preexisting crack. Because the postaccident examination confirmed flight control continuity, it is likely that the pilot lost control of the airplane during takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.