Piper PA-28-161 N81549

Summary

On 5 March 2003 at about 19:20 local time, a Piper PA-28-161 registered N81549, operated by Don Rice, was involved in an accident near Lake Placid, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 March 2003 at 19:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake Placid, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Lake Persimmon (NA)

Coordinates

27.2333, -81.3328

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-161

Registration

N81549

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Don Rice

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lake Placid → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA03LA073

Nobody was injured.

the pilot-in-command's failure to maintain airspeed during climb, which resulted in the airplane stalling, and impacting with a house.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the certified flight instructor (CFI), they planned to perform a short field takeoff, to the west, from the 2,000-foot private grass strip. The student was on the controls, for the takeoff, and one notch of flaps was used. The main gear lifted off the ground, the airplane "achieved ground effect," but would not climb. The airplane was nose high and the student then passed the controls to the CFI. The CFI lowered the nose, and waited for the airspeed to attain 63 KIAS. At 63 KIAS, he applied back pressure on the yoke to start a climb. As he applied back pressure on the yoke the airplane's airspeed "reduced rapidly." The CFI then applied forward pressure on the yoke, to once again regain an airspeed of 63 KIAS, and tried to climb, but said he had the same "...results, the airspeed dissipated rapidly...there seemed to be some sort of thrust or power shortage causing the airplane not to climb." The student pilot observed temperature and pressure gauge in "green...tachometer at 2600 RPM." The airplane cleared a 3-foot fence, and impacted with a house at the end of the runway. The instructor reported no mechanical malfunction. A static test run was performed on the engine and no discrepancies were noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.