Rising Sun Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Farmington, Maryland 21911
Saturday, June 9, 1990 15:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AFTER A BRIEF LOCAL FLIGHT, THE INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT PILOT RETURNED TO THE AIRPORT TO PRACTICE LANDINGS. THEY WERE TRAINING WITH SEVERAL OF THE FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS COVERED, INCLUDING THE AIRSPEED INDICATOR AND THE VERTICAL VELOCITY INDICATOR. THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT STATED THAT THE STUDENT ALLOWED THE AIRPLANE TO GET TOO LOW AND SLOW DURING THE APPROACH. THE INSTRUCTOR STATED THAT AS HE REACHED FORWARD TO TAKE OVER THE CONTROLS, THE AIRPLANE ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT AND SANK INTO THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED AN EMBANKMENT SHORT OF THE APPROACH END OF THE RUNWAY.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

STUDENT PILOT'S MISJUDGED APPROACH TO LANDING AND THE INSTRUCTOR'S INADEQUATE SUPERVISION.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/9/1990
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City FARMINGTON
Event State MARYLAND
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 21911
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport RISING SUN
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IW6
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 420
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 1454
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID 1LG
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 0
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1547
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 9 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1720
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 42958
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 5:02PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3456K
NTSB Number BFO90LA055
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28-140
Aircraft Serial Number 28-23564
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 26 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 39
Airframe Hours 2072
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DAVID J. COLATRIANO
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1210 BEAR-CORBITT RD.
Aircraft Owner City BEAR
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19701
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
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 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 20
Runway Length 1640
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --