Washington DC – Danbury

On April 12, 1995 at 01:27 PM, Washington DC – Danbury experienced a crash involving Piper PA-60 Aerostar (Ted Smith 600), operated by Robert L. Kovach, with the event recorded near Danbury Connecticut.

The flight was categorized as private and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

4 people were known to be on board, 1 fatalities were recorded, 3 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 25.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 3, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. After making a localizer runway 08 approach, the pilot landed over halfway down the 4,422 feet 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°). 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. A passenger was killed and three other occupants were seriously injured.

Aircraft reference details include registration N602PC, MSN 62-0861-8165002, year of manufacture 1981.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 41.3948°, -73.4540°.