Cessna 172P N53118

Summary

On 21 January 2001 at about 22:25 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N53118 was involved in an accident near Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin, 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

21 January 2001 at 22:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Sauk-Prairie Airport (91C)

Coordinates

43.2892, -89.7202

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N53118

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Madison → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI01LA072

Nobody was injured.

the improper trim setting and the pilot failed to maintain control of the airplane. A factor was the snowbank.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot reported that he planned to practice solo soft-field takeoffs, short-field takeoffs, and normal landings. It had been over two months since he had practiced those takeoff procedures. He reported that during the takeoff roll from a hard surface runway, the nose shot "... straight up, very fast and very high in front of me. This was totally unexpected to me." He reported the airplane started veering to the left and he applied right rudder, but he did not release the back pressure on the yoke. He reported he realized that he did not have the airplane under control and he pulled the throttle to idle. The airplane impacted a snow bank on the left side of the runway and nosed over. He reported he discovered that the airplane had been trimmed nose up.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.