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CEN21LA229

2021-05-20 · Washington Court House, Ohio, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport I23

Current FAA registration · N15033

Make / Model
PIPER PA-28-140
Year of manufacture
1972 · 49 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING O&GO-145C SER (75 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19720821
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A0CD0C

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during a soft field takeoff.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he was performing a soft-field takeoff in preparation for his upcoming private pilot checkride when after the nose wheel lifted off the runway, the airplane yawed to the left. He applied right rudder in an attempt to maintain control; however, when a runway excursion seemed imminent, he applied full brake pressure on both pedals. The airplane veered “sharply” to the left, exited the runway, and impacted a ditch before coming to rest in an adjacent field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage and left wing. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that attempting to steer the airplane back toward the runway centerline and not applying the brakes might have prevented the accident. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_CEN21LA229.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers