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ERA10CA303

2010-06-02 · Block Island, Rhode Island, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport BID

Current FAA registration · N47661

Make / Model
PIPER PA-28-181
Year of manufacture
1977 · 33 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19771003
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A5DAA8

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s loss of directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with a fence.

Factual narrative

The pilot stated to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that he “may have been a bit overconfident in salvaging a poor approach” and landed long at a higher than normal airspeed. The airplane bounced, departed the left side of the runway, and struck a fence which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing. A detailed examination of the airplane revealed no preimpact mechanical anomaly, and that the braking system performed as designed when actuated by the foot pedals or the hand lever. The pilot stated to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector that he made a poor approach, but still elected to continue with the landing. He landed long at a higher-than-normal airspeed and the airplane bounced upon touchdown. The airplane subsequently departed the left side of the runway and struck a fence, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no preimpact mechanical anomalies, and that the braking system performed as designed. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

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

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_ERA10CA303.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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