Piper PA28 N44704 accident near Palmetto, Florida

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s failure to maintain clearance from obstacles during low altitude maneuvering, which resulted in a collision with a fence.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor stated that he was taking the private pilot on a familiarization and training flight. The flight instructor planned to fly to a nearby turf runway where he would demonstrate a soft-field takeoff. While departing from the turf runway, the flight instructor flew the airplane in ground effect longer than was necessary and then turned left crosswind while still at a low altitude. The airplane’s left wing subsequently contacted a barbed wire fence, and the wire wrapped around the wing. The flight instructor returned to the airport, landed uneventfully, and removed the barbed wire from the wing. He subsequently performed a preflight inspection, and after nothing that the flight control surfaces were operating normally, returned to the airplane’s home airport uneventfully. Subsequent examination of the airplane revealed the left wing had been substantially damaged. The flight instructor reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA26LA284 for the full record.