Hastings Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hastings, Michigan 49058
Saturday, May 4, 2002 11:55 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane sustained substantial damage during an aborted landing attempt. During the instructional flight the student pilot began the landing flare approximately 15 to 20 feet above ground level (agl) and then elected to perform a go-around. During the go-around the aircraft continued to descend and the certified flight instructor (CFI) took over the control of the airplane. The CFI stated, "My first action was to verify throttle and mixture were both forward - which they were. At this time the stall warning horn sounded so I immediately lowered the nose to gain airspeed. At this point we were ~ 5 feet off the ground in ground effect and I remember the right wing was lowered in an attempt to get back to the runway." The student pilot reported, "With full power applied the plane started to sink. The instructor took control of the airplane. The plane refused to fly and went down to the left of runway 12." The airplane impacted three runway edge lights, a runway marker cone, and a runway intersection sign prior to the nose gear collapsing.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure to attain airspeed, inadequate supervision of the flight, and delayed remedial action which resulted in a stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/4/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1155
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Hastings
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 49058
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Hastings Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 9D9
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 801
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1056 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 333
Weather Observation Facility ID GRR
Elevation of weather observation facility 794
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.23
Density Altitude (feet) 409
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13153
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 4 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1211
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 18 2003 4:34PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA - Grand Rapids FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2494B
NTSB Number CHI02LA122
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-38-112
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 38-79A0092
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Apr 5 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 27
Airframe Hours 8638.6
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Aerosky Aviation Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2505 Murphy Drive
Aircraft Owner City Hastings
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 49058
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 9D9
Departure City Hastings
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1115
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 9D9
Destination City Hastings
Destination State MI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 13 2003 3:39PM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 12
Runway Length 3900
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --