# NTSB NYC93LA162: Cessna 150, N60648, Mcgaheysville, VA, August 18, 1993

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report
- Date: August 18, 1993, 18:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place: Mcgaheysville, VA
- Coordinates: 38.360855, -78.739913 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.3609&lon=-78.7399&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 2 uninjured
- Status: Completed, report September 30, 1994
- Report: Approved by Office Director
- NTSB case key (mKey): 38637
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=NYC93LA162
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/38637/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC93LA162

## Probable cause

THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR'S INADEQUATE SUPERVISION RESULTING IN A DELAYED GO-AROUND.

## Sequence of events

In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf).

- In flight collision with object, go-around (vfr)
  - supervision - inadequate, pilot in command(cfi) (cause)
  - go-around - delayed, pilot in command(cfi) (contributing factor)
  - object - tree(s)

## Analysis

THE STUDENT PILOT WAS PREFORMING A SIMULATED FORCED LANDING. THE CERTIFIED FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR STATED THAT DURING THE APPROACH IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THE TOUCHDOWN POINT WOULD BE TOO LONG FOR THE 1900 FOOT RUNWAY. HE ALSO STATED THAT HE DID NOT ADD POWER TO START A GO-AROUND IN A 'TIMELY MANNER,' AND THEY WERE TOO LOW TO MISS THE HIGHER TERRAIN AT THE END OF THE FIELD. HE MANAGED TO MANEUVER AROUND A HOUSE AND FENCE AND LANDED BETWEEN TREES.

## Factual narrative

On Wednesday, August 18, 1993, at 1800 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150, N60648, registered to and piloted by Donald L. Dofflemyer, sustained substantial damage when it impacted trees in McGaheysville, Virginia.  The pilot and student pilot were not injured.  Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.  The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91.

This was a training flight for the student pilot.  The Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) simulated an engine failure, and the student was conducting a forced landing.   The CFI stated:

It was obvious that we were too high.  I waited           until about mid-field and applied full power.            At this point, carb heat off and full flaps,           the plane was tending to lose altitude.  It           was as though the engine wasn't developing           full power...we were...too low to get over           the...hill...we were able to land between            two trees.

Mr. Jim Jacobsen, Aviation Safety Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, conducted an examination of the wreckage and interviewed the Certified Flight Instructor.  In his report, Mr. Jacobsen stated:

I met with the pilot/CFI who took me to the site.             He explained that the seventeen year old student           was given a simulated engine out forced landing.           ...At about two to three hundred feet it became           apparent that he was going [to be long].  The            instructor said to me that he failed to add           power in a timely fashion....The landing...terrain           continues to rise from one end to the other, which           may have caused him to feel secure...but as he           explained, he waited too long to add power, while           facing rising terrain.

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N60648](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N60648-1996-04-02), registration cancelled 1996-04-02, S/N 15070476 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 150
- Registry model: [Cessna 150J](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-150j) (registry code 2071820) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 15070476
- Engines: CONTINENTAL O-200-A 100 horsepower reciprocating
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Instructional, Part 91
- Registered owner: Donald L. Dofflemyer
- Last inspection: Annual, August 1, 1993
- Departed: SHD, SHENANDOAH, VA

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 57; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; seat: right; flight hours: 1,600 total, 550 in this make and model, 1,600 as pilot in command, 165 in the last 90 days, 50 in the last 30 days

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: calm
- Lowest ceiling: none

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 19930818029739A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19930818029739A), Aug 18, 1993: Cessna 150, Mcgaheyssville, VA, Substantial damage. Simulated forced landing. Too high for short runway. Go around not timely. Landed in trees to avoid rising terrain.

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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