ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A more detailed NTSB preliminary report sheds light on a fiery plane crash back in March that injured a couple on board and killed their dog.
On March 23, a Piper PA-46 was attempting takeoff from Northeast Regional Airport near St. Augustine when then the aircraft failed to gain altitude, immediately lost control, and crashed.
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The detailed NTSB report states the pilot requested runway 24 for departure and was cleared to back-taxi to use the full length of the runway. At that time, the wind was reported by the air traffic controller as 140º at 12 knots. A witness told investigators; he was conducting a private pilot practical test at a flight school when he heard a high-powered airplane taking off from runway 24. He observed the Piper PA-46 rotating near the intersection of runway 24 and taxiway D3 and begin a shallow climb. According to that same witness, the airplane’s engine sounded as if it was developing full power.
After clearing the end of the runway, the airplane began to pitch up at a steep nose-up angle. The aircraft climbed to an estimated altitude of 100 ft, then began settling, and “barely cleared the streetlights along the east side of U.S. Route 1,” said the witness who also said the airplane then began a slight roll to the left and struck trees near the extended centerline of runway 24. A large fireball erupted almost immediately upon impact with the trees.
READ: NTSB Preliminary Report
Runway 24 is only 2,700 feet long compared to Runway 13 which is 8,000 feet long and was reportedly being used by most pilots who took off and landed that day.
News4JAX aviation expert Ed Booth has decades of experience as a pilot and aviation attorney. He says the details in the NTSB preliminary report confirmed potential pilot error involving three mistakes.
“First, he failed to utilize the longest runway available to him. Instead, chose a runway that was too short and inadequate for the high-performance airplane he was flying. Number two, after choosing an inadequate runway in terms of length, he elected to take off downwind. That deprives the airplane the ability to generate the maximum amount of lift to clear the obstructions at the end,” Booth said.
According to Booth, mistake number three was not realizing the obstructions beyond the short runway which included streetlights along US Highway 1 and tall trees on the west side of the Highway.
The day of and after the crash, News4JAX spoke with multiple eyewitnesses who reported seeing the plane’s nose go into a steep vertical pitch as it was getting closer to the airport fence beyond the runway. Both said that is a sign the pilot lost control of the aircraft during a desperate attempt to avoid obstacles just beyond the runway.
“One can enter what is known as an aerodynamic stall where the wing stops generating the lift needed for flight and the airplane loses control and is on a ballistic trajectory as it was in this case. It went into the trees and exploded,” Booth said.
The crash and explosion were just feet from a home occupied by two teenagers. They evacuated the home fearing flames from the crash would spread to the house. Fortunately, fire crews arrived in time to prevent the flames from spreading.
The pilot and his wife were injured in the crash and taken to the hospital before being transferred to a burn unit in Gainesville. Their dog was rushed to an animal hospital where it died the following day.
Booth was asked if the aircraft would have generated enough lift had there been enough headwind on Runway 24.
“We could speculate about scenarios where you have 40 mph gale force wind down the runway, sure, the airplane would get up and fly under those conditions, but under normal conditions, you find at an airport on an average day, this flight was doomed to failure, regardless of the winds, Booth said.
According to Booth, only specific aircraft would normally take off from Runway 24.
“Slightly smaller airplanes with different wing designs that are designed to fly more slowly. Something like a Cessna Skyhawk. A Piper Cherokee. A Piper Cub. Any like that is more than adequate runway for it if properly loaded and flown,” said Booth who also went on to say the Piper PA-46 was not suited to take off from runway 24 because of its takeoff requirements.
“This was a very high-performance pressurized airplane designed to fly at high altitudes at 250 mph. And to do that, you must equip it with a high-performance wing that requires a much longer runway and much higher airspeed to get airborne,” Booth said.
Although the report did not mention anything about engine failure or mechanical failure, the investigation into the crash is still ongoing.