Piper PA 28 N5673U

Summary

On 15 September 2016 at about 01:10 local time, a Piper PA 28 registered N5673U was involved in an accident near Parkersburg, West Virginia, 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

15 September 2016 at 01:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Mid-Ohio Valley Rgnl (PKB)

Coordinates

39.3433, -81.4406

Aircraft

Piper PA 28

Registration

N5673U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1969

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Parkersburg → Parkersburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

GAA16CA490

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor’s delayed remedial action during the approach for landing, which resulted in impact with terrain short of the runway threshold. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot’s failure to maintain an appropriate descent rate during the approach for landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that while on short final during an initial night flight with a student pilot, he commented to the student pilot that the airspeed was low. He then recognized that they were "in a high sink rate" and took over the flight controls. He further reported that he attempted to recover the high sink rate by advancing the throttle to full forward. The engine responded to the throttle input, but the airplane impacted the ground short of the runway threshold and slid about 30 feet left of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and empennage. The flight instructor reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.