Piper PA22 N4454A

Summary

On 11 May 2020 at about 19:00 local time, a Piper PA22 registered N4454A was involved in an accident near Fayetteville, Tennessee, United States. One person was 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

11 May 2020 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Fayetteville, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Fayetteville Muni (FYM)

Coordinates

35.0606, -86.5639

Aircraft

Piper PA22

Registration

N4454A

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fayetteville → Fayetteville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA20CA185

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing in gusting crosswind conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he was performing touch and go landings. On his third landing, he knew there was a crosswind from his left side, so he touched down with the left main landing gear first. When the right main landing gear touched down, the airplane started to veer off to the left, so he corrected with right rudder and the airplane pulled hard to the right. The pilot then saw a ditch on the right side of the runway, so he applied "hard left rudder" to purposefully put the airplane into a ground loop so the airplane would not go off the runway and into the ditch. During the ground loop, the right main landing gear fractured and folded under the fuselage. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the right main landing gear tube fractured, and that the fracture surfaces did not display corrosion. The right wing rear spar and the lower longeron were substantially damaged. Examination of the flight controls and brakes showed no evidence of any preaccident anomalies. At the time of the accident a left crosswind component of between 9 and 17 knots prevailed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.