- Date
- April 7, 2025, 09:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ault, CO · Pawnee National Grassland
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8282VPiper PA28
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Denver FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250407004429A
- Case key
- 199973
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The flight instructor’s failure to maintain terrain clearance during an attempted go-around, which resulted in a collision with a fence post.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The flight instructor reported the airplane was flown over a remote grassland area to perform a simulated engine failure with the student pilot. During the maneuver, the flight instructor commanded a go-around about 300 to 400 ft above ground level. The student pilot hesitated, he retracted the flaps without adding power, and the flight instructor took the fight controls to complete the go-around. When the flaps were retracted, the airplane’s stall warning horn activated. As the flight instructor attempted to recover from the possible aerodynamic stall situation, the main landing gear settled onto the ground and the left wing impacted a fence post. The left wing became separated from the fuselage, the airplane traveled through a fence, and it came to rest partially upright on a pasture. The flight instructor and student pilot were able to egress from the airplane without further incident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The flight instructor reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor further reported that the accident could have been prevented by an improved briefing with the student on training procedures prior to the flight and utilizing a higher go-around altitude during the maneuver to maintain terrain clearance.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8282V
- Reported as
- Piper PA28 (161)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8116060
- Built
- 1980
- Airframe hours
- 6,110
- Engine
- Lycoming Engines O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ensemble Air LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 8, 2024
- Departed
- GXY · Greeley, CO
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 21, 2025
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 35,000 total · 500 in this make and model · 25,000 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 70 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 27
- Injuries
- None
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 10 total · 10 in this make and model · 10 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- KGXY, 17 nm away
- METAR
- KGXY 071456Z 24003KT 10SM CLR 07/M03 A3015 RMK AO2 SLP215 T00671028 50008
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 29, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.