- Date
- May 29, 1994, 20:30 local (May 30, 1994, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Burt, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8688LPiper PA-25-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 2, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940529017719A
- Case key
- 38767
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 pilot's failure to maintain airspeed, resulting in an inadvertent stall and collision with trees.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot was conducting aerial spraying of an orchard. He had completed 12 passes and was maneuvering for the last pass. According to the pilot, he was headed in 'an easterly direction, went into an ag turn, to head west, when aircraft was in westerly direction, still in turn, we hit trees and ground. According to the FAA, the pilot did not maintain an airspeed of 80 mph in the turn and the airplane stalled.
Factual narrative
On Sunday, May 29, 1994, at 2030 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-25-235, N8688L, registered to and piloted by Lindsay E. Hobbs, sustained substantial damage, while performing aerial application maneuvers in Burt, New York. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 137.
The pilot departed the private airstrip for a crop spraying flight. He had completed 12 spraying passes and was turning for a last pass, when the airplane impacted trees.
Mr. Donald F. Miller, Aviation Safety Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, stated in his report:
[The] pilot allowed [the] speed of [the] aircraft to get too slow while executing a right turn at about 75 feet altitude and crashed into the apple orchard.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8688L
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-5141
- Airframe hours
- 4,935
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B2B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Lindsay E. Hobbs
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 1994 · 23 hours before
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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 41
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,048 total · 1,780 in this make and model · 1,942 as pilot in command · 23 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.