Piper PA24 N6985P accident near Union City, Ohio

Preliminary information

On August 10, 2026, about 1800eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-24-250, N6985P, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Union City, Ohio. The flight instructor and the private pilot were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14?Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

The flight instructor reported that he was giving a flight review to the airplane owner because the owner’s flight review was expired. Prior to the initial departure, an engine run-up was performed and “everything was normal.” The flight departed from Portland Municipal Airport (PLD), Portland, Indiana with about 55 gallons of fuel on board (nearly full) and proceeded to Randolph County Airport (I22), Winchester, Indiana, where a full stop landing was performed. The engine was secured before being restarted a few minutes later for another flight. Another engine run-up was performed with no discrepancies reported.

The flight departed from I22 with the fuel selector position to the right fuel tank and the pilot climbed to 3,500 ft mean sea level where he performed air work for about 45 minutes. The flight instructor then asked the owner to come out of slow flight and go back to cruise flight. After leveling out of the turn the flight instructor reported that the engine “had a complete failure [but] the propeller was wind milling.” The flight instructor directed the owner to establish best glide airspeed, turn on the fuel auxiliary boost pump, and change the fuel selector to the left tank, which he did. While maneuvering for a nearby field the flight instructor “cycled the engine primer 4 times to get fuel to the engine…” but that did not restore engine power. At that time the airplane was at 200 ft above ground level and the owner lowered the landing gear. The airplane came to rest upright in the field with the nose and left main landing gear extended and the right wing resting on the ground.

While the airplane was being recovered from the accident site, the left and right fuel tanks were drained, and contained about 12 gallons and 5 gallons of fuel, respectively. The recovery of the airplane was delayed due to the wet condition of the field. The airplane was retained for further examination.

Text from the NTSB; a preliminary report can change and names no cause. Open the NTSB docket for ERA26LA358 for the full record.