Cirrus SR20 N89LF

Summary

On 18 July 2024 at about 11:20 local time, a Cirrus SR20 registered N89LF was involved in an accident near Port St. Lucie, Florida, 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

18 July 2024 at 11:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Port St. Lucie, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Treasure Coast Airpark (FL37)

Coordinates

27.2447, -80.4928

Aircraft

Cirrus SR20

Registration

N89LF

Category

Airplane

Year built

2022

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

West Palm Beach → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

ERA24LA320

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to correctly identify the airport runway, which resulted in a landing on a road and contact with a power line. Contributing to the outcome was the sun glare.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was flying to a small, private airpark to pick up a colleague. As he approached the airport, he circled and descended from 2,000 ft to the left downwind leg of the traffic pattern. While on the downwind leg, the pilot spotted what he thought was the (4,061-ft-long by 48-ft-wide) runway and described that he was flying into the glare of the rising sun and morning haze. When the airplane touched down the pilot immediately realized that he would not have enough landing distance to stop and elected to abort the landing. The pilot applied power and began to climb; however, after becoming airborne, he heard a “brushing” sound that he believed was foliage at the end of the pavement. The pilot then diverted to a nearby airport and made an uneventful landing. The pilot was later informed by the owner of the airplane that he had likely landed on a paved roadway near, and oriented parallel to the intended runway. Later, the pilot learned that he had struck a powerline that spanned across the roadway. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left wing main spar had been substantially damaged ruing the accident sequence. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.