Cessna 172S N166ME

Summary

On 8 July 2003 at about 16:44 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N166ME, operated by Monarch Air, was involved in an accident near McKinney, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 July 2003 at 16:44

Classification

Accident

Location

McKinney, Texas, United States

Coordinates

33.2142, -96.7478

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N166ME

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Monarch Air

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Addison → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW03FA182

2 people died.

The CFI's failure to maintain airspeed sufficient for flight resulting in an inadvertent stall/spin during the forced landing. A contributing factor was the impact with a bird, which affected the performance of the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The aircraft was en route to the designated company practice area when the 1,100-hour flight instructor (CFI) made a distress call stating they had hit a bird and were going down. Subsequently, the CFI terminated radio contact. A witness located adjacent to the accident site reported seeing the airplane fly over approximately 500 to 1,000 feet agl, and the "wings of the Cessna 172 were pitching (alternating) up and down looking uncontrollable. The tail of the airplane was swinging from side to side." The witness lost sight of the airplane once it descended below a tree line. Witness marks at the accident site and airplane crush angles were consistent with the airplane stalling prior to impacting the ground. Examination of the airframe and engine, logbooks did not reveal any pre-existing anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.