Piper PA32RT accident near Yulee, FL

On May 10, 2025, a Piper PA32RT (airplane) was involved in an accident near Yulee, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

May 10, 2025

Place

Yulee, FL

Aircraft

Piper PA32RT · Airplane

Injuries

1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

30.625°N, 81.529°W

NTSB ID

20250510200140

Official records · ERA25FA201

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

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn May 10, 2025, about 0935 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-32RT-300 airplane, N30689, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Yulee, Florida. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. The pilot’s spouse reported that the purpose of the flight was for the pilot to reposition the airplane from Nassau Airport (83FL), Yulee, Florida, to Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport (FHB), Fernandina Beach, Florida, where they would wait for approaching thunderstorms to pass through the area before continuing on to Tennessee. She reported that, earlier in the morning, the pilot had dropped her and their dogs off at FHB by ground vehicle before driving back to 83FL, where he planned to finish loading the airplane for their trip and make the short flight to FHB. The straight-line distance between 83FL and FHB was 3.9 nm. Review of video captured by a motion-activated surveillance camera mounted on a hangar near the end of runway 12 at 83FL showed that the airplane taxied toward runway 12 and began a back-taxi down the runway and out of the video frame (figure 1). During the taxi the airplane’s nose baggage door appeared closed. As the video continued, the airplane re-entered the frame on a takeoff roll about 0934. The video showed that, during the takeoff, the nose baggage door was open. The door stayed open while the airplane became airborne and exited the video frame. Following the accident, a sweep of the usable portion of runway 12 found a case of aviation oi

Probable cause

The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during takeoff, which resulted in a stall/spin at an altitude too low for recovery. Contributing to the accident was the opening of the nose baggage door and subsequent distraction of the pilot during a critical phase of flight, as well as the external pressure of the approaching thunderstorms, which likely resulted in the pilot rus

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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.