Cessna 172L N172GT

Summary

On 28 December 1999 at about 00:00 local time, a Cessna 172L registered N172GT was involved in an accident near New Orleans, Louisiana, 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

28 December 1999 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Nearest airport

Lakefront Airport (NEW)

Coordinates

30.0193, -90.0195

Aircraft

Cessna 172L

Registration

N172GT

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

West Point → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

FTW00LA055

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadvertent starting of the engine. Factors were the pilot's failure to set the mixture control to the off position, and the intermittent short in the starter switch.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

When the pilot attempted to start the airplane's engine, the starter's bendix drive gear did not engage the starter ring gear. The pilot stated that he turned off the ignition, took out the key and put it in his pocket, pulled the throttle to the idle position, set the parking brake and got out of the airplane. He chocked the airplane and then slowly rotated the propeller until he felt one piston 'move to top center.' He then got back in the airplane and attempted another start; however, the starter's bendix drive gear still did not engage the starter ring gear. Once again he turned off the ignition, took out the key and put it in his pocket, pulled the throttle to the idle position, and got out of the airplane. As he manually rotated the propeller, the engine started. The airplane jumped the chocks, began traveling forward unoccupied and impacted a sea wall and hangar. The pilot stated that he thought that the mixture was off. During an examination of the starter system, an intermittent short was found in the starter switch, which allowed the magnetos to remain ungrounded or 'hot' with the switch in the 'off' position.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.