Event NYC95LA087

Factual narrative

On April 12, 1995, at 1327 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-60-602P, N602PC, owned and piloted by Robert L. Kovach, struck trees during an aborted landing at Danbury, Connecticut. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and the airplane was destroyed. The pilot and two passengers received serious injuries, and one passenger was fatally injured. The flight was operated on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Dulles International Airport, in Washington, DC, destined for the Danbury Municipal Airport (DXR). The pilot executed the localizer runway 8 approach to Danbury. At 1325:26, the Danbury Control Tower transmitted, "Aerostar six zero two papa charlie Danbury Tower runway eight wind one two zero at five altimeter three zero two three cleared to land." This was acknowledged by the pilot. Controllers observed the airplane "dive" toward the runway, landing over halfway down the 4422 foot long, hard surface, wet runway. In the NTSB Accident report, the pilot stated: ...when I broke out, I went to full flaps and descended to the runway. I landed long and hot. I saw that the runway was wet and I was too far down the rwy to stop. I initiated a go-around by adding full power, reduced flaps to 20 degrees and maintained airspeed near 100 kts. There are hills surrounding DXR close in to airport. I saw that we were not going to clear the trees at about 150 feet AGL going up the hill. I waited until almost impact and pulled back on controls to soften impact by allowing bottom of aircraft to strike trees rather than nose first. The FAA reported that the wing flaps were in the fully retracted position, the wing flap handle was in the neutral position, and the hydraulic system was intact. The pilot reported to the FAA that he never touched the flap handle, and had requested the right seat passenger to reset the flaps. Additionally, he reported that there were no problems with the engines or airplane. FAA records revealed the pilot held a Private Pilot Certificate with single and multi-engine ratings. His instrument rating was limited to single engine airplanes. The right front seat passenger received serious injuries in the accident, was taken to a local hospital, and died of her injuries on May 1, 1995. The 1330 weather observation for Danbury was, ceiling 500 feet overcast, visibility 1 1/2 miles, wind from 100 degrees, at 7 knots. AFTER MAKING A LOCALIZER RUNWAY 8 APPROACH, THE PILOT LANDED OVER HALFWAY DOWN THE 4422' WET RUNWAY. HE THEN DECIDED TO ABORT THE LANDING, ADDED POWER, AND WHEN AIRBORNE, RETRACTED THE LANDING GEAR. HE SAID HE ASKED THE RIGHT FRONT SEAT (NON-RATED) PASSENGER TO RESET THE FLAPS (TO 20 DEGREES). THE PILOT SAW TREES AHEAD, AND REALIZED THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT GOING TO CLEAR THE OBSTACLES, THOUGH FULL POWER WAS APPLIED. JUST BEFORE IMPACT, HE PULLED BACK ON THE ELEVATOR CONTROL TO SOFTEN THE IMPACT, RATHER THAN HITTING THE TREES NOSE FIRST. AFTER THE ACCIDENT, THE WING FLAPS WERE FOUND IN THE RETRACTED POSITION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12