Event NYC96LA095

Factual narrative

On May 1, 1996, at 1330 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-R200, N5030S, was substantially damaged during a simulated forced landing to the Easton Airport, Forks Township, Pennsylvania. The flight instructor and private pilot received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local training flight that departed Easton, about 1300. No flight plan had been filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. In the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the certified flight instructor (CFI) stated that she and the private pilot, her husband, had flown a previous flight that day and practiced maneuvers at altitude. The airplane was then landed, refueled, and they departed for another training flight. During the second training flight the private pilot performed two practice power off landings from the down wind. The CFI further stated: "...He started this maneuver on a very wide down wind to 18. The third time, I took the airplane, kept it in closer to the runway and pulled the power back. On the turn to final, the airplane suddenly developed a fast sink rate. I gave immediate full throttle (gear was down, checklist for landing complete.) There was a slight sputter of the engine...Full throttle and nothing happened. Sink rate not arrested. Saw the pole and tried not to hit it with fuselage..." A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector interviewed the CFI and private pilot the day after the accident. In the FAA Inspector's summary of the interview, the CFI stated that during the turn to final, she realized that she was low and slow and advanced the throttle to full power and that the engine response "did not seem right." The private pilot stated that during the approach he thought that they were getting "too slow and too low," and when full power was applied the engine response "sounded strange." Several witnesses observed the airplane flying low before impact. One witness stated: "...I saw a plane through the trees which appeared to be flying at an extremely low altitude in relation to the airport. As I came into the clearing I noticed my suspicion was correct. The plane was dangerously low and I clearly witnessed the plane's right wing smash into the telephone pole..." The airplane's right wing struck a 25 foot high pole, about 12 feet above the ground, 900 feet from the approach end of the runway. Examination of the wreckage by FAA Inspectors revealed no pre-impact failure of the airframe or engine. One FAA Inspector's report stated: "...The propeller was damaged by impact and showed leading edge damage and rotation marks on the forward face of the propeller blades...No malfunction of the engine was evident or could be duplicated..." The certified flight instructor (CFI) and the private pilot, her husband, had flown a previous flight that day and practiced maneuvers at altitude. After a refueling stop, they departed for another training flight. The private pilot performed two practice power off landings from the downwind to runway 18. During a third practice forced landing, with the landing gear extended, the CFI took over the controls. When the airplane developed a high sink rate during the turn to final, the CFI realized that the airplane was low and slow. The CFI stated that she advanced the throttle, but the engine did not respond. The airplane's right wing struck a 25-foot-high pole at the edge of an open field, about 12 feet above the ground and 900 feet from the approach end on the runway. The private pilot stated that during the approach he thought that they were getting 'too slow and too low,' and when full power was applied the engine response 'sounded strange.' Examination of the wreckage revealed no preimpact failure of the airframe or engine. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12