The pilots — an instructor and his student — of a small propeller plane that near Centennial Airport reported struggling to gain altitude as they took off before their aircraft went down.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in a preliminary report on the Feb. 18 crash, said the instructor said the plane was “slow to climb” and that it “felt like something was pushing the airplane down.”
The instructor was seriously injured in the crash while the student pilot was able to pull himself out of the aircraft.
The NTSB says they found no mechanical problems with the engine or other flight controls of the plane, a Piper PA-28 operated by Centennial Flyers.
Update – 1 person transported to the hospital, 1 treated on scene. Media staging in the parking lot, east side at 12500 Belford Ave
— South Metro Fire Rescue (@SouthMetroPIO)
According to the preliminary report, the student pilot was operating the airplane until it failed to gain altitude and the instructor took over. The plane then banked left and crossed over E-470 before it crashed.
The instructor told investigators that he heard the aircraft’s stall warning horn sounding as the crash happened. The flight was the first for the student in a Piper PA-28.
It can take a year or more for the NTSB to release a final report on a plane crash and determine a cause.
