Piper PA-28-140 N5169T accident near Newport, Vermont

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during an aborted landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and collision with the ground. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's alcohol impairment.

NTSB analysis

The pilot was returning to his home airport after a local flight that lasted about 2 hours. On his first attempted landing, the pilot conducted a go-around. The pilot said that he was "high and fast" on the second attempt, even though the runway was equipped with a 2-light precision approach path indicator which would have given the pilot guidance to touch down with the first one-third of the runway. The airplane touched down about 3,000 feet down the 3,998-foot runway. The pilot then applied full power to abort the landing. After lifting off, the airplane pitched up, and, according to the pilot, the engine failed. About 200 feet above ground level, the airplane banked left and settled back toward the ground; it then impacted the ground and slid to a stop about 850 feet off the end of the runway. Immediately after the accident, the pilot exited the wreckage and was observed leaving the airport.

A postaccident examination and test run of the engine revealed no evidence of any anomalies that would have precluded normal engine operation. According to a witness, on the morning of the accident, she observed the pilot consume 12 to 16 alcoholic beverages between 0745 and 1230 when the pilot left to meet his passenger for the flight. After the accident, the Vermont State Police made contact with the pilot at his residence, where he refused a breathalyzer test. Given the airplane's performance during and after the pitch up, and the absence of any indications of an engine anomaly, the airplane likely entered an aerodynamic stall; the pilot's failure to adequately maintain airspeed and pitch control after the aborted landing, which resulted in the stall, was likely related to his consumption of alcohol.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA14LA285 for the full record.