Piper PA-25-235 accident near Saratoga Springs, NY
On May 26, 2026, a Piper PA-25-235 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Saratoga Springs, NY. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- May 26, 2026
- Place
- Saratoga Springs, NY
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-25-235 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 43.054°N, 73.866°W
- NTSB ID
- 20260526203054
NTSB summary
On May 26, 2026, about 1347 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-25-235 airplane, N8656L, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Saratoga Springs, New York. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 glider aerotow flight. The airplane was conducting an aerotow of a Schleicher ASW27 glider, N321ER via the glider’s center of gravity tow hook at Saratoga County Airport (5B2), Saratoga Springs, NY. Surveillance video showed that shortly after liftoff, at an altitude of about 200 ft, the glider pitched up and climbed above the towplane, pulling the tail of the towplane up and pitching its nose down. The glider pilot reported that he made several attempts to release before successfully separating from the towplane. The towplane did not recover from the upset, and subsequently impacted the runway, and a postcrash fire ensued. The glider returned to the airport and landed uneventfully. The towplane impacted about 50 ft right of the runway centerline in a nose down attitude and came to rest about 1,000 ft from the departure end of the runway. The debris path was oriented on a 330° magnetic heading and was about 100 ft in length from the initial impact point to the main accident site. At the initial impact point, two gouges about 1/2- to 3/4-inch-deep were observed in the asphalt, consistent with a propeller strike. Adjacent to the propeller strikes marks were rows of paint transfer consistent with wing contact. Thermal damage to the asphalt extended from the initial impact point to the main wre
More accidents in NY
- Airbus Industrie A300B4-605R, Nov 12, 2001
- Boeing 747-131, Jul 18, 1996
- Bombardier Inc DHC-8-402, Feb 13, 2009
- Mitsubishi MU-2B-40, Apr 12, 2025
- Piper PA-31-350, Dec 15, 1989
Browse: New York · 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.
