NTSB Factual Report

On March 12, 2017, about 1537 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140, N8447R, impacted the water during a forced landing shortly after takeoff from Peter O Knight Airport (TPF), Tampa, Florida. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight to Sabastian Municipal Airport (X26), Sabastian, Florida. The personal flight was conducted the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

According to the pilot, he rented the airplane two days prior to the accident flight, to fly from X26 to TPF for several days. The flight on March 10 was uneventful. On March 12, he arrived at the airport around 1230 and started his preflight inspection of the airplane. The pilot stated he "sumped" the tanks and the fuel was clear of debris. The rest of the preflight inspection was normal and no anomalies were noted. The engine run-up and magneto checks were normal, and he started his take off roll on runway 22.

At 60 knots airspeed, he rotated and started to climb. Upon reaching about 100 feet above ground level, he noticed a loss of engine power and the rpm started to drop. He verified fuel and oil pressure were good and started looking for a place to land. He further stated he could not abort the take-off and land safely on the runway, so he decided to try to turn back to the airport and land on the cross runway. During the turn, he realized he would not make it back to the airport and decided to ditch the airplane into the surrounding water. Once he ditched the airplane, he exited through the cockpit door and a local boater picked him up and took him to shore.

Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the left wing separated from the airplane. The windshield was fractured in several areas and the right wing leading edge was damaged.

The airframe and engine were retained for further investigation.