LANCASTER COUNTY – The National Transportation Safety Board released a final report on a March 9, 2025 plane crash in Lancaster County. The plane crashed into some parked vehicles at Brethren Village. The pilot reported that during takeoff, he heard a loud “pop.”. He pulled the throttle back, then realized that the cabin door had opened. He thought that he pushed the throttle forward, but was not sure. He noticed that the airplane’s air speed was not increasing and immediately looked for a place to land. The pilot contacted the air traffic control tower and requested a return to the airport and the front-seat passenger held the door closed. The plane turned left and started “shaking” before it impacted the ground. The plane struck the ground and a post-impact fire consumed most of the wreckage, including the cabin door. NTSB determined the probable cause of the crash was the pilot’s failure to maintain adequate air speed after takeoff due to his distraction by the opening of the cabin door, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall/mush condition at too low of an altitude to recover. Contributing to the accident was the plane’s overweight condition by about 500 lbs., which increased its stall speed and adversely affected its control characteristics. Five people were injured in the crash.
