- Date
- April 3, 1999, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lincoln Univ., PA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N2472NPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 10, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 46062
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 student pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush. Also causal was the certified flight instructor's inadequate supervision.
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 certified flight instructor (CFI) and the student pilot had been performing touch and go landings, and emergency procedures. After touching down on 'Runway S', a 1,500-foot-long grass runway, the student pilot increased the throttle, and abruptly pulled back on the yoke. As the airplane climbed to about 20 feet above the runway, the stall warning horn began to sound, and the airplane became 'mushy'. The airplane began to settle back to the ground, and the CFI took over the controls. The airplane then impacted the ground, about 150 yards from the end of the runway, nose first.
Factual narrative
On April 3, 1999, about 1330 Eastern Standard Time, N2472N, a Piper PA-38-112, was substantially damaged when it impacted the ground during takeoff from Harris Airport, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The CFI stated in a telephone interview that he and the student pilot had been performing touch and go landings, and emergency procedures at the Harris Airport. After touching down on "Runway S", a 1,500-foot long grass runway, the student pilot increased the throttle, and abruptly pulled back on the yoke. As the airplane climbed to about 20 feet above the runway, the stall warning horn began to sound, and the airplane became "mushy". The airplane began to settle back to the ground, and the CFI took over the controls. The airplane then impacted the ground, about 150 yards from the end of the runway, nose first, and sheared off the left wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2472N
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-79A0860
- Airframe hours
- 4,830
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- New Garden Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 12, 1999 · 21 hours before
- Departed
- N57 · Toughkenamon, PA
- Airport
- 3PA8 · Harris Airport
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 673 total · 109 in this make and model · 599 as pilot in command · 92 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ILG, 17 nm away