Skip to content

CEN23LA234

2023-05-28 · Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GFK

Current FAA registration · N771ND

Make / Model
PIPER PA-28-181
Year of manufacture
2018 · 5 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING IO-360-B4A (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20180607
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AA6DEE

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s failure to attain a proper takeoff attitude while demonstrating a soft field takeoff and his improper control inputs resulting in a dragged wing. Contributing to the accident were the gusting wind conditions.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor and his student were performing a soft field take off following a touch-and-go landing. The operator reported that the airplane started to drift to the left with a “higher than normal” pitch attitude and the airplane encountered a wind gust. The right wing dropped and contacted the runway surface. According to the flight instructor, during the take-off, the student “instantly” applied right aileron, instead of right rudder, to maintain the runway centerline. The flight instructor took over controls and continued the takeoff. While in the traffic pattern, the flight instructor noticed an “abnormality” on the right wing and landed the airplane without further incident. A visual inspection found that the right aileron sustained substantial damage. The operator stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. About the time of the accident wind was recorded as 160° at 17 knots with gusts to 29 knots. 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-Student/instructed pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_CEN23LA234.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.