Cessna 172P N63012

Summary

On 16 May 1998 at about 18:18 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N63012 was involved in an accident near Fort Myers, Florida, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 May 1998 at 18:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Myers, Florida, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N63012

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pompano Beach → Sarasota

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA98LA164

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate inflight decision and her selection of unsuitable terrain to conduct a precautionary landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot encountered problems with the aircraft's radios while on a cross country flight, and was unable to continue communications. After passing the airport to which she was previously vectored to by ATC, she elected to perform a precautionary landing in a field adjacent to an airstrip. During the flare, she realized that the field was rippled, but continued the landing. During the landing roll, she applied brakes and the airplane nosed over. Examination of the electrical system by an FAA inspector revealed a loose terminal at the toggle switch connection of the avionics buss. Prior to the accident, another pilot had noted that the avionics switch did not activate the radios, and the switch had to be manipulated several times before power was applied to the radios. According to the maintenance personnel, the switch was turned on and the problem was not duplicated. No other maintenance was performed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.