NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA24LA250
Registry · N287ND
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
PIPER PA-28R-201
Year of manufacture
2000 · 24 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING I0360 SER A&C (200 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20001031
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A2E92C
Registrant of record
SKYBORNE AIRLINE ACADEMY INC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
Excessive side loading of the vertical stabilizer.
Factual narrative
During a preflight inspection of a flight school airplane, the flight instructor noticed a missing rivet on the left side of the vertical stabilizer. He also noticed that the skin of the vertical stabilizer was bent outwards. The flight instructor walked around to the right side of the airplane and noticed that the same rivet was missing on that side, and the skin was also bent outwards. He called the maintenance department out to the airplane to look at the damage. They subsequently told him the airplane was not airworthy and to write it up as a discrepancy. The maintenance department immediately grounded all the other airplanes and inspected the vertical stabilizers for any damage. No other damage was noted on the remaining 49 airplanes of the flight school operator’s fleet. It could not be determined when the damage to the vertical stabilizer occurred, but the damage was likely the result of excessive side loading of the vertical stabilizer during flight. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- — Aircraft-Aircraft structures-Empennage structure-Vertical stabilizer-Capability exceeded
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2024_ERA24LA250.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (maintenance). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2026 · Journal article (IJAAA)
From Reactive to Predictive: A hybrid Trust-Mediated Adoption Framework for Data-Driven Maintenance in Distributed-Authority Aviation Environments
Modern aviation maintenance operates within increasingly data-intensive technological environments, yet the operational integration of predictive maintenance into routine decision-making remains incon…
- Semantic Scholar 2025 · Article (Applied Sciences)
Decision-Making Framework for Aviation Safety in Predictive Maintenance Strategies
The implementation of predictive maintenance (PM) in aviation presents unique challenges due to strict safety requirements, complex operational environments, and regulatory constraints.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (JAAER)
Low-Resource Automatic Speech Recognition Domain Adaptation – A Case-Study in Aviation Maintenance
With timeliness and efficiency being critical in the aviation maintenance industry, the need has been growing for smart technological solutions that optimize and streamline the different underlying ta…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (JAAER)
A New Trajectory in UAV Safety: Leveraging Reinforcement Learning for Distance Maintenance Under Wind Variations
In the field of aviation, safety is a critical cornerstone, and the operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems is deeply connected with this principle.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (IJAAA)
Just Culture in Aviation: A Metaphorical Study on Aircraft Maintenance Students
Just Culture, a sub-dimension of safety culture, has been a prominent and debated topic in aviation safety in recent years.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (IJAAA)
Performance PRISM: A Comprehensive Framework For Performance Measurement In Aircraft Maintenance
Aircraft maintenance is governed by rigorous safety requirements and high operational complexity, demanding robust performance measurement frameworks to ensure optimal maintenance practices.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗