NTSB ERA26LA015 — 2025-10-10 · New Milford, Connecticut, United States

Current FAA registration · N28170

Make / Model: SOCATA TB 10
Year of manufacture: 1991 · 34 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING 0-360-A1D (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 5 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19901213
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A2D518

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N28170 Socata TB 10 None

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s decision to depart from an unlit turf runway at night, which resulted in a loss of directional control, and subsequent runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The pilot was attempting to take off from an unlit turf runway about 1 hour after the end of civil twilight. The pilot stated that during the takeoff roll, he was unable to recognize the runway’s side boundaries and the airplane veered left and exited the runway. The airplane struck trees and fencing resulting in substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures 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-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Dark-Decision related to condition
— Environmental issues-Operating environment-Airport facilities/design-Airport lighting-Decision related to condition

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_ERA26LA015.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