A small Piper aircraft carrying three people overturned while landing at Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport on Monday afternoon, temporarily shutting down the runway as federal investigators and local crews converged on the scene.
The Piper PA-28 “veered off the runway and overturned while landing at Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport in North Carolina around 1:15 p.m. local time on Monday, Feb. 23,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a brief statement. The agency said three people were on board and that the FAA will investigate.
Airport personnel were the first to reach the overturned plane, then quickly notified Monroe police and fire crews, who “arrived quickly to assist the airport and passengers,” the city said. The runway was formally marked closed after the FAA was notified and dispatched personnel to the scene, and it will stay shut “until FAA investigators give the all-clear,” the city said.
The FAA’s standard process for general aviation incidents typically includes investigators examining factors such as pilot actions, potential mechanical issues, and local conditions, a process that can stretch on for months or longer before a final determination is issued.
In that case, the FAA told NTD News that the Piper PA‑18 “nosed over after landing” on a frozen lake in Otisfield, Maine, around 5 p.m. local time on Friday with only the pilot aboard. An investigation has been opened into what went wrong.
Local media reported that the pilot there blamed a mechanical problem and said the plane overturned as he attempted an emergency landing on Thompson Lake, though he was able to walk away without injuries. Authorities have not said whether mechanical issues or any other specific factor played a role in the Monroe crash.
The NTSB said in a statement to NTD News at the time that initial information indicated the pilot “declared an emergency due to oil on the windshield and crashed into power lines after attempting to divert to Brownsboro.”