Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Portland, Maine
Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
Docket And Docket Items - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
Aviation Accident Data Summary - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
Plane Nonsense Inc: http://registry.faa.gov/N190ND
NTSB Identification: GAA16CA377
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, July 07, 2016 in Keene, NH
Probable Cause Approval Date: 04/04/2017
Aircraft: PIPER PA 44, registration: N190ND
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The flight instructor in the multiengine airplane reported that, during a simulated single-engine instrument approach to runway 2, the right engine was configured for the simulated failure. The instructor added that the goal was to perform a missed approach on one engine and note the airplane’s performance. The pilot under instruction descended to the decision height and executed the missed approach procedure, but the airplane would not climb. The flight instructor told the pilot to go to full power on both engines. According to the flight instructor, “mixtures, props and throttles were all full forward and the fuel flow levers were both at the ON position,” and he took control of the airplane.
The flight instructor reported that there were trees and buildings to the north and that he made a left turn about 400 ft above ground level with the intent to land on runway 14. He extended the landing gear but realized that he would not reach the runway. He executed a forced landing to the southwest on taxiway Sierra, the airplane crossed over runway 32/14, and although heavy braking was applied, the airplane exited the taxiway and impacted a drainage culvert. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the aft fuselage stringers and longerons.
The airport elevation was 488 ft, the density altitude was 2,120 ft, the temperature was 81°, the dew point was 66° F, and the wind was calm, and the flight instructor stated that carburetor heat was not used during the approach on either engine.
The relative humidity was about 60 percent, and the weather conditions were conducive to serious icing probability when operating in a gliding flight profile.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The flight instructor’s failure to use carburetor heat during the approach while operating in atmospheric conditions that were conducive to carburetor icing, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to carburetor icing.
Per the AOPA Carburetor Ice Probability Chart, the relative humidity was about 60 percent and there was serious icing probability when operating in a gliding flight profile.
NTSB Identification: GAA16CA377
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, July 07, 2016 in Keene, NH
Aircraft: PIPER PA 44, registration: N190ND
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The flight instructor in the multi-engine airplane reported that during a simulated single-engine instrument approach to runway 2, the right engine was configured for the simulated failure. The instructor reported that the goal was to perform a missed approach on one engine and note the airplane's performance. The pilot under instruction descended to the decision height and executed the missed approach procedure, but the airplane would not climb. The flight instructor told the pilot to go to full power on both engines. "Mixtures, props and throttles were all full forward and the fuel flow levers were both at the ON position," according to the flight instructor, and he took control of the airplane.
The flight instructor reported that there were trees and buildings to the north and he made a left turn about 400 feet above ground level with the intent to land on runway 14. He extended the landing gear; but realized that he would not make the runway. He executed a forced landing to the southwest on taxiway Sierra, the airplane crossed over runway 32-14, and although heavy braking was applied, the airplane exited the taxiway and impacted a drainage culvert. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the aft fuselage stringers and longerons.
The airport elevation was 488 feet, the density altitude was 2,120 feet, the temperature was 81° and the dew point was 66° F, the wind was calm, and the flight instructor stated that carburetor heat was not used during the approach on either engine.
Per the AOPA Carburetor Ice Probability Chart, the relative humidity was about 60 percent and there was serious icing probability when operating in a gliding flight profile.
NORTH SWANZEY — A pilot experienced a landing gear problem with his small plane Thursday, which caused the plane to come down in a ditch at Dillant-Hopkins Airport.
The plane, a Piper PA 44, was attempting to land on runway 14-32 at 11:55 a.m. Neither the pilot nor the passenger was injured. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating.
Fire trucks, ambulances, and rescue vehicles were parked around the plane after it landed.
The incident marks the third at the Keene-owned airport in North Swanzey since May 1.
A single-engine aircraft went off the west side of the main runway after making its descent on May 1. Approaching from the south in the late afternoon, the plane was carrying two passengers. Damage was limited to five lights along the runway strip.
On May 11, a Vans RV-8 aircraft went off the side of Runway 2 and flipped, after hitting a deer as it attempted to land. Both the pilot and a passenger got out of the plane on their own; neither was injured; the deer was killed. The NTSB is looking into that mishap, too.
The airport that sits on 888 acres and has just two runways. Airport Manager John G. “Jack” Wozmak chalked the string of incidents up to fate.
“Planes are in and out a lot; we get a lot of visitors,” he said. “Chances increase with traffic.”
A municipal airport that serves corporate and hobbyist planes as opposed to commercial use, Dillant-Hopkins still has the second largest runway in the state, at 6,200 feet, second only to the Manchester-Boston Airport, which has a runway of 9,250 feet, according to the Manchester-Boston Airport website.
The Federal Aviation Administration and industry are working on a number of key initiatives to improve general aviation safety, according to a news release from the governing body. Together, the release noted, it will use data to identify risk, pinpoint trends through root cause analysis, and develop safety strategies.
Tracy Keating, who owns a new restaurant at the terminal, The Flight Deck, was at work during each of the incidents, although she didn’t witness them, she said.
“We live in a technical world and sometimes technology is amazing and sometimes it’s not,” she said.
Keating said for a tiny airport, she was impressed with how quickly workers responded to each instance.
“There were three in the last two months so you know anything they may have not known how to do, they do now,” she said.
“It’s all just coincidence though.”
