Piper PA-28-181 N3553M

Summary

On 14 June 2022 at about 22:15 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N3553M was involved in an accident near Eaton Rapids, Michigan, 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

14 June 2022 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Eaton Rapids, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Skyway Estates Airport (60G)

Coordinates

42.4678, -84.7128

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N3553M

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Pontiac

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN22LA249

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed in the climb with a quartering tailwind which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent impact with trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot in the airplane’s left seat reported that they were taking off from a turf runway with a quartering tailwind. The pilot in the right seat was flying and rotated 1,000 ft down the runway where they got into ground effect. About 800 ft from trees at the end of the runway and an airspeed of about 63 kts, the airplane began to climb. After they cleared the first group of trees, the stall warning came on. The pilot pushed the nose over to regain airspeed, but the airplane’s tires caught in a second set of trees. The airplane went into the trees and subsequently impacted the terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the forward fuselage. The left seat pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. A National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report was not received from the right seat pilot. At the time of the accident, the airplane was taking off on runway 08 with winds 140 degrees at 10 kts and the density altitude was 2,805 ft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.