Piper PA28 accident near Florence, CO

On February 2, 2020, a Piper PA28 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Florence, CO. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.

Date

February 2, 2020

Place

Florence, CO

Aircraft

Piper PA28 · Airplane

Injuries

1 fatal, 2 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Substantial

Position

38.431°N, 105.118°W

NTSB ID

20200202X83050

Official records · CEN20FA072

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn February 2, 2020, about 1355 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA28-150 airplane, N5969W, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Florence, Colorado. The flight instructor and one passenger were seriously injured, and one passenger was fatally injured. The airplane was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. The flight was a second exploration flight for the passenger seated in the front left seat. The brother of that person was seated in the aft right seat, and the flight instructor was seated in the front right seat. The flight instructor reported that he rotated the airplane using about 2,000 ft of the 5,399-ft-long runway. The airplane climbed and then settled back down to the runway. About 2,500 ft down the runway, the flight instructor rotated the airplane again and entered ground effect. He did not recall the climbout but remembered that he flew a 180° turn to land on runway 11. The airplane descended and impacted rolling terrain about 1,000 ft southwest of the departure end of runway 29. An eyewitness saw the accident airplane depart from about midfield. He recalled that the airplane sounded as if it were making the expected power but that the subsequent climb was “anemic.” PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe flight instructor purchased the airplane on December 31, 2019, about 1 month before the accident. In addition to logging flight time in the accident airplane the flight instructor had logged time in Cessna 210-5A, Piper PA28-180, and Cessna 182T airplanes. AIRCRA

Probable cause

The pilot’s decision to continue the takeoff with reduced airplane performance due to high density altitude

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Browse: Colorado · Piper aircraft

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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.