Cessna 172M N9234H

Summary

On 9 December 1999 at about 19:00 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N9234H was involved in an accident near Pikeville, North Carolina, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 December 1999 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Pikeville, North Carolina, United States

Coordinates

35.4903, -77.9801

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N9234H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA00LA046

1 person was seriously injured.

The inadequate supervision of the private-rated pilot by the certified flight instructor for allowing the airplane to impact terrain during a simulated forced landing procedure to an open field.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The CFI was to check the private pilot in the airplane and before departure, the pilot was briefed to expect a simulated engine failure. After performing airwork, loss of engine power was simulated. The CFI reported the pilot picked an 'excellent' field but did not use flaps and overshot it. The CFI advised the pilot to perform a 180 degree turn to the left; the pilot executed the turn with the flaps extended then after recognizing that the pilot could land in the field, the CFI advised the pilot to go-around. The pilot stated that the CFI did not advise him to go-around and he applied power after descending too low to continue the simulation; the aircraft impacted terrain approximately 2 seconds after applying full power. The CFI stated the last thing he recalled was that the airplane was 50 feet agl, wings level. Examination of the accident site by FAA revealed that the airplane impacted the field first with the left wing tip, followed by the nose, right wing, then empennage. Examination of the flight controls revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. The engine was placed on a test stand, started, and found to operate normally.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.