Piper PA28 accident near West Chester, PA
On March 29, 2015, a Piper PA28 (airplane) was involved in an accident near West Chester, PA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- March 29, 2015
- Place
- West Chester, PA
- Aircraft
- Piper PA28 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.984°N, 75.591°W
- NTSB ID
- 20150330X64758
Official records · ERA15FA171
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn March 29, 2015, about 1335 eastern daylight time, a privately owned and operated Piper PA-28-140, N6842W, crashed shortly after takeoff from Brandywine Airport (OQN), West Chester, Pennsylvania. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a postcrash fire, and the flight instructor and private pilot were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight that was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The flight was originating at the time of the accident. The purpose of the flight was a flight review for the airplane owner, who had reportedly not flown since 2011. According to witnesses, two engine run-ups were performed before the accident flight. During the first run-up, when one of the magnetos was checked, the engine sounded rough and remained at a higher rpm for a period of time, before power was reduced to idle. During the second magneto check, the engine sounded better than the previous check. The airplane then taxied onto the runway and began a takeoff roll from runway 27, which was aborted for unknown reasons. One witness stated that he did not hear any abnormal engine sounds associated with the aborted takeoff. The airplane then returned to the approach end of runway 27, for a second takeoff attempt. A witness adjacent to the approach end of the runway stated he did not hear an engine run-up, and reported he heard four "pop" sounds followed by a loud "pop" sound, when the airplane was still on the ground, about halfway down the
Probable cause
The failure of the flight instructor and the pilot to abort the takeoff after the airplane experienced a partial loss of engine power with adequate runway remaining, and their subsequent failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which led to the airplane exceeding its critical angle-of-attack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was an intermittent loss of engine power
More accidents in PA
- Boeing B-737-300, Sep 8, 1994
- Boeing 757, Sep 11, 2001
- British Aerospace J-3101, May 21, 2000
- Bell UH-1N, May 29, 2008
- Beech A36, Jul 30, 1989
Browse: Pennsylvania · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
