Piper PA-28-140 accident near Fountain, FL
On May 25, 2014, a Piper PA-28-140 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Fountain, FL. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- May 25, 2014
- Place
- Fountain, FL
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-140 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 30.522°N, 85.389°W
- NTSB ID
- 20140525X21418
Official records · ERA14FA255
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn May 25, 2014, about 0923 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140, N43113, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain after a loss of control during initial climb at Maran Airport (68FD), Fountain, Florida. The pilot was seriously injured and his three passengers were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. On the day of the accident, the pilot conducted two flights with passengers at 68FD. On the first flight, he had one adult male and two small children on board. On the second flight the pilot also had three passengers on board but, this time the passengers were a young male, and two adult females. The takeoffs at 68FD were performed by the pilot on runway 27, which was a turf-covered runway. Trees existed at the departure end of the runway that were part of a heavily forested area, which extended to the west of the airport. According to witnesses, during the second flight's takeoff, after a ground roll of approximately 1,200 feet, the airplane rotated and the pilot had the "nose up pretty much." One of the witnesses who observed this began to verbalize that the pilot should "get the nose down." When the airplane reached the trees at the end of the runway, it cleared them. Moments later the witnesses observed that the airplane had begun to sink into the tops of the trees and then roll to the right. It then disappeared from sight, and the sound of impact was heard. Black smoke then rose up
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to depart from a soft runway with a tailwind and toward obstructions, and his failure to follow the manufacturer's recommended procedures for the takeoff. Contributing to the accident were the degradation of airplane and engine performance due to the high density altitude and the pilot's failure to properly configure the airplane's carburetor heat.
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Browse: Florida · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
