Cessna 172K N46451

Summary

On 16 July 1999 at about 01:00 local time, a Cessna 172K registered N46451, operated by Andy Griffith, was involved in an accident near Taft, California, United States. One person was on board and 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

16 July 1999 at 01:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Taft, California, United States

Nearest airport

Taft - Kern County (L17)

Coordinates

35.1609, -119.4294

Aircraft

Cessna 172K

Registration

N46451

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Andy Griffith

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bakersfield → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX99LA252

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's selection of the wrong runway in consideration of the wind conditions and his subsequent failure to maintain directional control. The pilot's decision to abort the landing attempt with inadequate runway remaining for the takeoff phase was also causal.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was going to practice landings. He planned to land on runway 25 and depart on runway 07 due to terrain and runway slope considerations. He said the winds were from 050 degrees at 10 to 12 knots. He made a go-around on his first attempted landing, then made a full stop landing on runway 25 and took off on runway 7. On his third attempt, he landed on runway 25 with full flaps and the airplane began drifting to the right as it slowed down. As he was correcting, he felt the nose wheel 'skid/shimmy.' He was approximately halfway down the runway at 35 knots, when the airplane departed the right side of the runway and he decided to abort the landing. He re-entered the runway with approximately 150 yards of pavement remaining and rotated at approximately 50 knots with 30 yards of asphalt remaining. During the takeoff initial climb, the airplane collided with trees and a power lines. Examination of the runway determined the airplane veered about 80 feet off the runway into a dirt area, and that the airplane lifted off about 270 yards from the airport boundary fence. The first set of power lines was less than 0.25-mile from the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.