Cessna 172N N738QM

Summary

On 10 April 2003 at about 16:00 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N738QM, operated by Owen C. Bass, was involved in an accident near Foxworth, Mississippi, United States. 2 people were 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

10 April 2003 at 16:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Foxworth, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Circle Bar Ranch

Coordinates

31.2956, -89.9861

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N738QM

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Owen C. Bass

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hattiesburg → Foxworth

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA03LA098

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the pilot to perform a go-around, his failure to attain the proper touchdown point, and his delay in applying the normal brakes resulting in his inability to stop the airplane and subsequent on-ground collision with a fence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that before departure he did not obtain a formal weather briefing nor file a flight plan but he did monitor the AWOS at the departure airport. After takeoff the flight proceeded to the destination airport (Circle Bar Ranch) where he flew overflew the airstrip and observed the windsock which indicated the wind was from the northeast at approximately 10 knots. He entered the traffic pattern for runway 09, and twice performed a go-around following two approaches to the runway. Following the second approach, the wind was from the northwest and he entered the traffic pattern for a full-stop landing on runway 27. Full flaps were extended for landing which he reported occurred about 1/4 down the runway, at an indicated airspeed between 55-60 knots. He held the nose landing gear off the ground and reported, "...played with the brakes", and "tapped them" between the time the nose landing gear contacted the runway and the midpoint of the runway where the airplane had decelerated aerodynamically to between 45-50 knots. At midpoint of the runway, with the throttle at idle and the flaps fully extended, the airplane accelerated to between 70 and 80 knots. He applied the brakes heavily but recognized the airplane would not stop on the remaining runway. With obstructions past the departure end of the runway, he intentionally maneuvered the airplane off the left side of the runway onto grass in the belief that the grass would help slow the airplane. The airplane traveled through a barb wire fence and 4-foot shallow embankment, then onto a road where the airplane came to rest upright with the nose landing gear wheel assembly separated. The pilot further stated that at the point the airplane accelerated, the engine did not accelerate. He additionally reported post accident there was no mechanical failure or malfunction and he did not apply the brakes early on due to the fact that he did not want to apply power to taxi up an incline to the ramp where the airplane was to be parked. Several witnesses reported that the airplane landed about the midpoint of the runway. Examination of the runway by the FAA inspector-in-charge revealed the runway was 2,400 feet in length by 43 feet in width; the runway midpoint has a slight rise. Examination of skid marks revealed the airplane departed the south side of the runway 27, approximately 204 feet before the departure end of the runway. The airplane traveled approximately 492 feet, collided with a barbed wire fence then rolled onto a private road.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.