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NYC95LA025

1994-11-13 · ORANGE, Massachusetts, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ORE

N337RL has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (TALOS DRONES TALOS T60X), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper flare which resulted in a hard landing, collapse of the main gear, and inflight collision with the ground.

Factual narrative

On November 13, 1994, at 1539 eastern standard time, a Pazmany PL-4A, N337RL, an experimental airplane, owned and piloted by Robert W. Lee, was substantially damaged during a landing at the Orange Airport, Orange, Massachusetts. The pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight was operated under 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot was attempting to land on the grass beside Runway 01. The airplane landed hard, bounced, collapsed the main landing gear, and impacted the ground nose first. The pilot was injured during the impact sequence when his head struck the canopy. According to the FAA, rescue personnel, reported that when they arrived at the crash site, the pilot was not buckled to the seat, and was sitting on the seat belts. The pilot survived the accident but died of his injuries on November 19, 1994. THE PILOT WAS ATTEMPTING TO LAND ON THE GRASS BESIDE RUNWAY 01. THE AIRPLANE LANDED HARD, BOUNCED, COLLAPSED THE MAIN LANDING GEAR, IMPACTED THE GROUND NOSE FIRST. THE PILOT WAS INJURED DURING THE IMPACT SEQUENCE WHEN HIS HEAD STRUCK THE CANOPY. ACCORDING TO THE FAA, RESCUE PERSONNEL, REPORTED THAT WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT THE CRASH SITE, THE PILOT WAS NOT BUCKLED TO THE SEAT, AND WAS SITTING ON THE SEAT BELTS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1994_NYC95LA025.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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