Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Vero Beach Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vero Beach, Florida 32960
Monday, April 7, 2008 16:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The solo student pilot of the PA-28 was practicing at his home airport when, just after touchdown, the airplane veered off the runway and encountered a ditch. The tower-controlled airport was configured with two parallel runways and one intersecting runway. About 41 minutes prior to the accident, the recorded winds were 020 degrees at 10 knots, and the tower was directing traffic to use runways 11R and 11L. During the first landing rollout, the pilot opted to perform a touch and go instead of a full stop, due to his concerns about the winds, and his ability to control the airplane on the ground. His second approach to the same runway resulted in a go-around, again due to the winds. On the third approach, the airplane bounced, veered off the left side of the runway, encountered a ditch, and stopped. The recorded winds 13 minutes after the accident were from 350 degrees at 13 knots, with gusts to 17 knots. Subsequent to the accident, the pilot stated that he was uncomfortable with the wind and runway combination, but that he lacked the confidence to challenge the tower's runway selection. Shortly after the accident, the control tower switched operations to the single runway to align traffic with the prevailing wind.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's loss of directional control on landing. Contributing to the accident was the crosswind and wind gusts.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/7/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1640 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Vero Beach |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32960 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 273933N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0802508W |
| Event Location Airport | Vero Beach Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VRB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 24 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1647 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 24 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.9 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24083 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 8 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2008 3:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9233X |
| NTSB Number | NYC08CA159 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2841095 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 11007 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FlightSafety International |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Vero Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | FlightSafety Academy |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Vero Beach |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | VRB |
| Departure City | Vero Beach |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1620 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | VRB |
| Destination City | Vero Beach |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 9 2008 2:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 11L |
| Runway Length | 3405 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |