WPR23LA164
2023-04-22 · Mesa, Arizona, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport FFZ
Current FAA registration · N4402A
- Make / Model
- PIPER PA-28-181
- Year of manufacture
- 2019 · 4 years old at event
- Engine
- LYCOMING O-360-A4M (180 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 4 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 20191120
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S A54D3C
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The student pilot’s failure to maintain directional control, and the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action.
Factual narrative
The flight instructor reported that, during an instructional flight with the student pilot at the flight controls, they realized the airplane was high while they were on the base leg of the airport traffic pattern. After turning onto final approach, the student pilot conducted a forward slip to decrease altitude and intercept the glideslope. When over the runway, the student pilot had applied too much left rudder, and on touchdown the airplane immediately veered left. The student pilot then overcorrected to the right. The flight instructor stated, he then took control of the airplane and attempted to correct back to the left, however he was unable to regain directional control. The airplane departed the runway surface impacting a runway sign, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident 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.
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot
- — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring other person-Instructor/check pilot
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2023_WPR23LA164.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.
- TallyAero Live Wire Aviation press
- NTSB CAROL Agency ↗
- NTSB Docket Agency ↗
- Aviation Safety Network Aviation press ↗
- Kathryn's Report Aviation press ↗
- Aviation Herald Aviation press ↗
- AVweb Aviation press ↗
- Pilots of America Community ↗
- Reddit /r/flying Community ↗
- FlightAware Aviation press ↗
- AOPA accident database Aviation press ↗
- Google News News ↗
- DuckDuckGo News ↗