Piper PA-28-161 N562PU

Summary

On 16 March 2021 at about 14:40 local time, a Piper PA-28-161 registered N562PU, operated by Flightsafety International Inc, was involved in an accident near Fort Pierce, Florida, 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

16 March 2021 at 14:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Pierce, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Treasure Coast Intl (FPR)

Coordinates

27.4975, -80.3726

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-161

Registration

N562PU

Category

Airplane

Year built

2000

Engines

1

Operator

Flightsafety International Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA21LA175

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor’s delayed remedial action and failure to maintain directional control during a crosswind landing, which resulted in a runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was flying with the flight instructor to practice unassisted landings for the first time. The flight instructor stated that due to the gusting right crosswind, the approaches were bumpy, and the airspeed fluctuated. During the third landing of the flight, on the final approach, the airplane began to drift to the right of the runway centerline. The airplane’s nose veered right when the student pilot flared and although the flight instructor attempted to recover, the airplane had insufficient airspeed and sank toward the runway. Upon landing, the airplane travelled to the right, departed the runway, and impacted runway signage. The right main landing gear assembly separated from the airplane upon impact with runway signage, and the airplane pivoted on the right wing before coming to rest in the grass. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the fuselage sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that she should have instructed the student to perform a go-around procedure when the approach became unstable. The recorded wind at the time of the accident was a direct right crosswind at 8 knots and did not reference gusting.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.