- Date
- June 29, 2026, 16:45 UTC
- Place
- Easton, MD · FBO Ramp
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N8394DPiper PA-28-161
- Defining event
- Standing-engine(s) start-up: Fire/smoke (non-impact)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20260629012609A
- Case key
- 203330
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8394D
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8116238
- Built
- 1981
- Airframe hours
- 10,039.2
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Harry Pray Aviation
- Registered owner
- Trident Aircraft Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 1, 2026
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- ESN · Easton/Newnam Fld
N8394DRegistered now · Piper PA-28-161Airframe modelPiper PA-28-161Engine modelLycoming 0-320 series
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- KESN
- METAR
- METAR KESN 301545Z 21005KT 10SM CLR 28/17 A3015=
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N8394D · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.