The airport manager, who was also the owner of the FBO at the airport in Churchville, Maryland, where the Piper PA-28R-200 was based, reported that he spoke with the pilot the morning of the accident.
He told investigators that the pilot was frustrated that the new interior for the airplane had taken so long to be installed as he was planning to leave the next day to have the airplane’s avionics upgraded.
He added that the purpose of the flight was for the pilot to complete some flights in the airport traffic pattern with a new propeller installed before the long cross-country flight the following morning.
The airport manager left the airport about 1850 as the pilot was completing his preflight inspection of the airplane.
A mechanic for the FBO reported that he spoke with the pilot just before the accident flight and that the pilot told him about the upcoming trip to Florida the next day and that he wanted to take the airplane for a test flight just to make sure it was performing normally before the long cross-country flight.
The mechanic also reported that he had fueled the airplane’s wing tanks to the “tabs” the day before the accident, as the fuel had been drained to facilitate a new weight and balance calculation due to maintenance that had been recently completed. The mechanic did not witness the airplane start, taxi, or takeoff as he had already left for the day.
An earwitness who lived near the airport, and was outside doing yard work, reported that about 1905 he heard an airplane start its takeoff roll and that he did not hear the airplane perform an engine run-up.
He stated that Runway 1 was in use, and that when this runway was being used airplanes in the traffic pattern would usually bank left and pass over his house.
He reported that the sound from the engine was normal, and that the RPM tone did not change for the duration of the flight.
Another witness, the only witness to see the airplane in flight, reported that he was outside in his yard when he saw the airplane in a steep left bank with the wings perpendicular to the ground. He said that he could only see the underside of the airplane, that the landing gear appeared to be down, and that it was much lower than usual.
The earwitness reported that the entirety of the flight lasted about 45 seconds from when he first heard the airplane to when he heard it hit the ground.
The pilot died in the crash.
No track data was available either from air traffic control primary radar targets or from ADS-B.
Both the airport manager and the mechanic reported that early in the day the weather had been poor, but that it had become better as the day progressed.
A witness reported the weather was clear with a light breeze out of the north. He said it was “a perfect evening to fly.”
The Piper PA-28R-200 Pilot’s Operating Manual (POM) recommended short- and soft-field takeoffs be performed with flaps set to the 25° position. The POM made no mention of taking off with the flaps set to the full 40° position. The POM listed the stall speeds for the landing gear-down, flaps 40° setting to be 64 mph with 0° of bank, 66 mph with 20° of bank, 73 mph with 40° of bank, and 90 mph with 60° of bank.
The POM also stated that the best rate of climb with the landing gear down was obtained at 95 mph and the best angle of climb was obtained at 85 mph with the landing gear down. No data was available to determine the expected rate of climb with the flaps set to full and the landing gear in the down position.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during initial climb, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin and loss of control that the pilot did not recover from.
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This July 2023 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
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