IAD96LA146
1996-09-15 · WESTMINSTER, Maryland, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport 2W2
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's misjudgement of his speed and distance, his failure to attain the proper touchdown point during the landing, and his delay in executing a go-around (aborted landing), which resulted in an overrun.
Factual narrative
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On September 15, 1996, at about 1755 eastern daylight time, N9074W, a Piper PA-28-235, owned and operated by the private pilot, sustained substantial damage after impacting trees off the end of runway 13/31 while landing at the Clearview Airpark, Westminster, Maryland. The pilot was not injured however, the passenger, his son sustained serious injuries. Visual Meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan was filed. The flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, and originated from Issex, Maryland at 1525. The pilot stated in the NTSB Form 6120.1/2 pilot/operator report that he entered the pattern behind a Cessna. He stated that there was no radio communication with the Cessna and when it landed it maneuvered as if to take the runway again, however, it stopped short with its nose over the right side of the runway. He stated that he came in with 40 degrees of flaps at about 70 mile per hour (MPH). He said that he came in high over the Cessna pulled power and nosed down for the runway, and that his last known airspeed was between 80 and 85 mph. He said he touched down below the numbers, applied the brakes and the aircraft seemed to slow. He said that at about 10 to 15 feet from the end of the runway he was to fast, and the aircraft was not slowing down properly. He said he applied power to go around but struck the trees off the end of the runway. The pilot stated that he entered the traffic pattern behind a Cessna. He stated that there was no radio communication with the Cessna, and after it landed, it maneuvered as if to take the runway again. However, it stopped short with its nose over the right side of the runway. The pilot stated that he came in with 40 degrees of flaps at about 70 mile per hour (MPH). He said that he came in high over the Cessna, pulled power and descended to the runway. His last known airspeed was between 80 and 85 mph. He said he touched down below the numbers, applied the brakes, and the aircraft seemed to slow. He said that at about 10 to 15 feet from the end of the runway, he was too fast, and the aircraft was not slowing down properly. He said he applied power to go around, but the airplane struck the trees off the end of the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1996_IAD96LA146.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research) Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace) Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes) Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…