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NYC82FA091

1982-05-12 · SANFORD, Maine, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SFM

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

A PIPER PA-28, N81029, AND A CESSNA 172P, N53442, WERE APPROACHING TO LAND ON RUNWAY 14, WHEN THEY COLLIDED ABOUT 1000 FT FROM THE THRESHOLD. THE PILOT OF THE PIPER STATED THAT HE HAD ENTERED THE TRAFFIC PATTERN AND BEGAN TO EXPLAIN THE MECHANICS OF THE PATTERN TO HIS DAUGHTER. AFTER MAKING A NORMAL LANDING, HE MADE A "RUNWAY TAKEOFF" AND BEGAN A SECOND PATTERN. HE STATED WHEN HE WAS ON BASE LEG FOR HIS SECOND LANDING, HE HEARD ANOTHER PILOT CALL ON A LEFT DOWNWIND. REPORTEDLY, HE THEN TRANSMITTED THAT HE WAS ON BASE AND CONTINUED LOOKING FOR OTHER TRAFFIC. ON FINAL APPROACH HE SAW THE SHADOW OF N53442 ON HIS PLANE JUST BEFORE IMPACT. THE CESSNA PILOT REPORTED THAT HE HAD TRACKED TO THE RADIO BEACON, AND AFTER BEACON PASSAGE, STARTED A LONG FINAL APPROACH. REPORTEDLY, HE CALLED ON A LONG FINAL APPROACH ABOUT 2 MILES OUT AND LOOKED FOR OTHER AIRCRAFT. JUST PRIOR TO COLLISION, HE SAW THE PIPER CONVERGING FROM BELOW. AFTER IMPACT, HE HAD PARTIAL CTL TIL HE CRASH LNDD IN A PARKING LOT & HIT A CAR. N81029 CRASHED IN UNCTLD DSCNT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1982_NYC82FA091.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.