NTSB ERA24LA113 — 2024-02-13 · Melbourne, Florida, United States

Current FAA registration · N650FT

Make / Model: PIPER PA-28-181
Year of manufacture: 2013 · 11 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING O-360-A4M (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 20130430
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A88D49

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N650FT Piper PA28 None

Probable cause & findings

The pilot receiving instruction’s failure to correctly identify the runway centerline prior to initiating the nighttime takeoff, which resulted in a collision with a runway edge light and subsequent runway excursion. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's inadequate monitoring of the pilot.

Factual narrative

The pilot receiving instruction reported that after receiving clearance from the control tower to take off, he taxied onto the runway during nighttime conditions. As the airplane proceeded along the center of the taxiway, he mistook the right runway edge line for the runway centerline and attempted to take off. During the takeoff roll, the airplane impacted a runway edge light, and went into the grass area adjacent to the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the horizontal stabilator and the right wing during the accident. The pilot and the flight instructor reported there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

— Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Identification/recognition-Student/instructed pilot
— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Dark-Response/compensation
— Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring other person-Instructor/check pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_ERA24LA113.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