Piper PA-28 Cherokee, Warrior, Archer, Arrow

The PA-28 has one of the better records of the small planes we rate, though weaker than the Cessna 172's, and most of its fatal events are private flights, not lessons. Up to 28 October 2026, our data counts 187 fatal PA-28 events in the United States since 2008, and 321 people died. That is across an estimated 34.9 million US flights, worked out from the FAA aircraft register and the FAA General Aviation survey. The accidents come from the NTSB database.

What is a PA-28?

Piper first flew the PA-28 in 1960. It is a low-wing, four-seat, single-engine plane with fixed gear on the Cherokee, Warrior and Archer, and retractable gear on the Arrow. Its horizontal tail is a single moving surface, called a stabilator. About 18,000 sit on the FAA register today, mostly older Cherokees. Many belong to flight schools, flying clubs and owners who fly for fun; the methodology explains the flight estimate.

Who was flying, and what went wrong?

Of the 187 counted events, 151 were private or other flights, 35 were training flights and one was a ferry flight. Four more events, all deliberate acts, are excluded, and a Canadian-registered Warrior that crashed in Pennsylvania in 2016 does not count, because only US-registered aircraft do. The 35 training events killed 61 people.

By type of accident, loss of control in flight leads with 82 events. Flight into terrain follows with 34, engine failure with 19, and fuel problems with 13. The summaries often mention night, dark terrain or cloud, and in at least 30 the pilot had no instrument rating.

Training events fit the pattern. On 25 February 2011 an Archer III on a night lesson near Phoenix, Arizona, flew level into a rock outcrop; three died. On 25 July 2020 a Cherokee on a discovery flight near San Antonio took off about 73 lb over its limit in a gusty tailwind; three died. A broken cylinder head at McMinnville, Tennessee, on 8 September 2020 stopped an Archer's engine; the pilot turned with too little speed and all three on board died.

How do we count a trainer's flights?

The FAA survey gives flying hours for single-engine pistons as a class, not per type. Airframe hours in NTSB accident records and, to a lesser degree, ADS-B tracks from 2019 to 2022 split them: a PA-28 makes more flights than the average single, though fewer than a Cessna 172, and the count reflects that. A flight runs from take-off to the final landing, so the touch-and-goes of a circuit lesson do not add flights. The family spans six decades, and we cannot score the models apart: busy school Warriors and Archers and little-flown private Cherokees share one figure. A flight in any light aircraft carries far more risk than an airline flight; that is not a flaw in this one.

What should a student or passenger check?

• Ask the instructor how the school handles weather limits and night flights.
• Ask a private pilot when they last flew with passengers. A pilot needs three takeoffs and landings in the last 90 days to carry passengers. For passengers at night, the three must be full-stop landings at night.
• Ask if the pilot holds an instrument rating when clouds or low ceilings are in the forecast.
• Avoid night flights over dark water or mountains with a pilot who has no instrument rating. Near Venice, Florida, on 3 December 2022, a night takeoff over the Gulf ended in the water with three dead.
• Weigh the people and bags, and work out the balance too. Four adults with full tanks can pass the limit. At Vergennes, Vermont, on 8 September 2024, an Arrow with four on board took off nose-heavy from a grass strip and stalled in the climb; all four died.
• Look up the tail number in the FAA registry, and search the NTSB database for the school's name.

Recent open cases include the Cherokee near Gunnison, Colorado, on 24 October 2026, which the NTSB database does not hold yet, and a training crash at Akron, Ohio, on 14 May 2026. The NTSB has not given a cause for either.

How to tell if you are on one

Flight trackers show P28A, P28B, P28R or P28T. A larger Piper with six seats is the PA-32. The Cessna 172 is the usual comparison. All small planes are ranked on one page.