NTSB Factual Report

On August 19, 2001, about 1750 eastern daylight time, a Piper J-4A, N27848, registered to a private individual, operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, crashed in the vicinity of Mosheim, Tennessee, while attempting a go-around from a balked landing. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed by postcrash fire and the student pilot, the sole occupant, received minor injuries. Also damaged was a road vehicle, power lines and transformer, and fencing. Two occupants in the road vehicle received injuries, one fatal and one minor. The flight originated from a private field about 5 minutes before the accident.

According to the student pilot, he departed his private grass, 800-foot airstrip to the southwest, intending to conduct landings to the northeast. That direction is favored, wind permitting, due to obstacle clearance and runway slope. His approach was high and fast as a result of a tailwind, and when he realized his touchdown would be long, he elected to perform a go-around. The aircraft collided with power wires near the departure end of the strip. The subsequent collision with the terrain was to a paved road where the aircraft collided with a pickup truck, causing fatal injuries to the vehicle driver. The pilot stated that he experienced no aircraft mechanical abnormalities or malfunctions, precrash.

According to an FAA inspector, the pilot stated the surface winds at the airstrip were about 7 knots from a southwesterly direction. Postcrash examination of the aircraft wreckage revealed a power line strike mark on the right wing oriented about 45 degrees from the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, and the left wing tip showed evidence of a telephone pole strike. Following the wire strike, the aircraft's direction was skewed eastward, and terrain collision was actually head-on onto an oncoming pickup truck's hood with the left wheel strut and belly of the aircraft. The aircraft ripped through the windshield and cab of the truck, set down in the bed of the truck, knocked the tailgate off, and came to rest on the road where it burst into flames. The truck driver received fatal injuries, and the passenger received minor injuries. Two eyewitness statements were collected by the inspector, and are attachments to this report.

NTSB Probable Cause

The failure of the student pilot to maintain altitude clearance during a balked landing go-around resulting in the collision with a utility pole, transmission wires, and a ground borne vehicle.