Piper PA28 accident near Fellsmere, FL

On March 5, 2019, a Piper PA28 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Fellsmere, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.

Date

March 5, 2019

Place

Fellsmere, FL

Aircraft

Piper PA28 · Airplane

Injuries

1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Substantial

Position

27.715°N, 80.527°W

NTSB ID

20190305X45612

Official records · ERA19FA116

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation

Air traffic control records

• ATC Radar File: Document (CSV), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn March 5, 2019, at 0703 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-161, N556PU, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Fellsmere, Florida. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 solo instructional flight. The student pilot had been training at the FlightSafety International Inc. (FSI) FlightSafety Academy (FSA) in Vero Beach, Florida; the accident flight was her second solo cross-country flight. The Vero Beach Regional Airport (VRB) control tower was not open at the time of departure, and there were no recorded radio transmissions documenting the pilot's departure. The airplane was first observed on radar shortly after it departed runway 30L at 0657:23. At that time it was at a groundspeed of 106 knots, and an altitude of 525 ft mean sea level (msl). For about the next 1 minute 30 seconds, the airplane flew on a westerly heading and descended to 325 ft msl and reduced groundspeed to 83 knots. The airplane then made a right turn toward the northwest before making a left turn back to the southwest. The airplane slowed to a groundspeed of 70 knots and the altitude varied between 425 ft and 300 ft msl before it made a right turn to the north about 0700:36. At that time, the airplane was at a groundspeed of 79 knots, a heading of 336°, and an altitude of 625 ft msl. Over the next 2 minutes 30 seconds, the airplane made a series of climbing and descending turns with varying groundspeeds and headings, before it entered a steep right turn at 0703:05. At that time, the

Probable cause

The student pilot's loss of control due to spatial disorientation following an encounter with instrument meteorological conditions shortly after takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the failure of both the pilot and the flight school to ensure that the pilot had received the proper endorsements for the flight and the pilot’s self-imposed pressure to complete the flight in order to remain in t

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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.