Piper PA24 N155TE

Summary

On 10 October 2020 at about 15:00 local time, a Piper PA24 registered N155TE was involved in an accident near Friendly, Maryland, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 October 2020 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Friendly, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Potomac Airfield (VKX)

Coordinates

38.7487, -76.9558

Aircraft

Piper PA24

Registration

N155TE

Category

Airplane

Year built

1961

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Indian Head → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA21LA015

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during an aborted landing and the flight instructor’s inadequate remedial action.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the instructional flight, the pilot performed maneuvers and procedures with the flight instructor to prepare the pilot for an instrument proficiency check. After completing the instructional portion of the flight, the pilot flew the airplane back to its home base. During the final approach to the runway, the airspeed decayed from the target speed of 85 mph to 80 mph, and the pilot lowered the nose to correct. During the landing flare, the descent rate increased, and the pilot added power to arrest the descent rate. The airplane bounced after touchdown, and the pilot attempted to abort the landing. The flight instructor “felt” the airplane settling towards the ground again and applied aft elevator to cushion what he thought would be a hard impact. The pilot said, “you are fighting me” and the flight instructor released the controls. The airplane then continued in a nose high pitch attitude off the left side of the runaway and impacted a parked airplane before eventually coming to a stop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the outboard right wing, right aileron, and right wing spar. Both pilots reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.