Danbury Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Danbury, Connecticut 06810
Wednesday, April 12, 1995 13:27 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AFTER MAKING A LOCALIZER RUNWAY 8 APPROACH, THE PILOT LANDED OVER HALFWAY DOWN THE 4422' WET RUNWAY. HE THEN DECIDED TO ABORT THE LANDING, ADDED POWER, AND WHEN AIRBORNE, RETRACTED THE LANDING GEAR. HE SAID HE ASKED THE RIGHT FRONT SEAT (NON-RATED) PASSENGER TO RESET THE FLAPS (TO 20 DEGREES). THE PILOT SAW TREES AHEAD, AND REALIZED THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT GOING TO CLEAR THE OBSTACLES, THOUGH FULL POWER WAS APPLIED. JUST BEFORE IMPACT, HE PULLED BACK ON THE ELEVATOR CONTROL TO SOFTEN THE IMPACT, RATHER THAN HITTING THE TREES NOSE FIRST. AFTER THE ACCIDENT, THE WING FLAPS WERE FOUND IN THE RETRACTED POSITION.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE PILOT'S DELAY IN INITIATING A GO-AROUND (ABORTED LANDING) AND FAILURE TO ASSURE THAT THE FLAPS WERE PROPERLY RESET FOR THE GO-AROUND. FACTORS RELATING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO ACHIEVE THE PROPER TOUCHDOWN POINT FOR LANDING, THE WET RUNWAY CONDITION, AND THE PROXIMITY OF TREE(S) TO THE RUNWAY.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/12/1995
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1327
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City DANBURY
Event State CONNECTICUT
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 06810
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport DANBURY MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DXR
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 458
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1337 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID DXR
Elevation of weather observation facility 458
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 1.5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 3
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 285
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 12 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1420
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:13PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N602PC
NTSB Number NYC95LA087
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-60-602P
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-60-602P
Aircraft Serial Number 62P-18165002
Certified Max Gross Weight 6062
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 2 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 108
Airframe Hours 3253
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT L. KOVACH
Aircraft Owner Street Address 113 PENDLETON BEACH ROAD
Aircraft Owner City LACONIA
Aircraft Owner State NH
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 03246
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 10 PEACEFUL LANE
Operator City NORWALK
Operator State CT
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 06851
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code IAD
Departure City WASHINGTON
Departure State DC
Departure Country
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DXR
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8
Runway Length 4422
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --