Greenville Downtown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Greenville, South Carolina 29607
Tuesady, February 7, 2012 18:05 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After turning onto final approach for landing at his home airport, the pilot selected 25 degrees of flaps and slowed the airplane to 80 mph. At this point, he encountered a slight crosswind, the airplane drifted to the right of the runway centerline, but the pilot corrected for it. He stated that the touchdown was smooth, but the airplane veered to the right. The pilot tried to correct using left rudder and left brake, but the airplane continued to veer to the right, departed the paved surface of the runway, and struck a runway sign with the left wing, substantially damaging the wing structure. The pilot stated that he believed that the right brake may have been "hanging up" and that he should have aborted the landing when the airplane began to veer to the right. A postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any anomalies with the brake system.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s loss of directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a runway excursion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/7/2012
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1805
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Greenville
Event State SOUTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 29607
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 345052N
Event Location Longitude 0822100W
Event Location Airport Greenville Downtown Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID GMU
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 1048
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID GMU
Elevation of weather observation facility 1048
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.12
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 30220
NTSB Notification Source FAA Southern ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 4 2012 2:03PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4592R
NTSB Number ERA12CA172
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-28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-21338
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 6 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4112
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jack B. Coleman
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Taylors
Aircraft Owner State SC
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 29687
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Jack B. Coleman
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Taylors
Operator State SC
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 29687
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code GMU
Departure City Greenville
Departure State SC
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1758
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code GMU
Destination City Greenville
Destination State SC
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 31 2012 6:25PM
User who most recently changed record gots
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19
Runway Length 5393
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --