11 Oct 2016: PIPER PA 34-200 200 — American Flight Academy

11 Oct 2016: PIPER PA 34-200 200 (N15294) — American Flight Academy

1 fatality • East Hartford, CT, United States

Probable cause

The NTSB did not determine the probable cause of this event and does not plan to issue a report or open a public docket. The investigation of this event is being conducted under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On October 11, 2016, about 1530 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-34-200 twin-engine airplane, N15294, was destroyed when it impacted terrain near Hartford-Brainard Airport (HFD), Hartford, Connecticut. The flight instructor was seriously injured, and the private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to International Aviation, LLC, and operated by American Flight Academy as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the airport at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed HFD about an hour earlier.

The investigation of this event is being conducted under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The NTSB provided requested technical assistance to the FBI, and any material generated by the NTSB is under the control of the FBI. The NTSB does not plan to issue a report or open a public docket.

Contributing factors

  • cause Other authority investigated
  • cause Pilot

Conditions

Weather
VMC

Related events

Same aircraft

  • 29 Apr 2026 — PIPER PA-18S-150 (DUBIOUS ADVENTURES LLC)
  • 26 Apr 2026 — PIPER PA-30 (—)
  • 24 Apr 2026 — PIPER PA-34-220T (BARRASS JOHN)
  • 23 Apr 2026 — PIPER PA-28-151 (H&M AIR LLC)
  • 22 Apr 2026 — PIPER PA-18-150 (—)

Same operator

  • 22 Feb 2017 — PIPER PA38 112 (American Flight Academy)
  • 23 Dec 2016 — PIPER PA38 112 (American Flight Academy)

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