Cessna 172P N65615

Summary

On 27 July 2004 at about 20:29 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N65615, operated by Cruise Air Aviation, Inc., was involved in an accident near Big Bear City, California, 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

27 July 2004 at 20:29

Classification

Accident

Location

Big Bear City, California, United States

Nearest airport

Big Bear City (L35)

Coordinates

34.2636, -116.8544

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N65615

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Cruise Air Aviation, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ramona → Big Bear City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX04CA282

Nobody was injured.

the instructor's inadequate compensation for wind conditions and delayed decision to perform a go-around. Contributing factors were wind gusts, windshear, and an excessive descent rate.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with bushes and terrain during an attempted landing on a temporary runway. The runway is normally the south taxiway. It is the designated runway during major repairs to the main runway 08/26, and is marked with a displaced threshold and normal striping. The airplane landed prior to the displaced threshold. The instructor took the controls during the base leg turn when the student pilot voiced some concerns about his ability to land the airplane due to his lack of familiarity with the airport and the turbulence. The instructor reported gusty winds (280 degrees at 9-14), and severe windshear that was not reflected during his preflight weather briefing, or by the Unicom advisory service. The AWOS was out of service. The instructor put in an additional 10 degrees of flaps after clearing some trees. Upon encountering a high rate of sink he applied full power for a go-around and retracted the flaps to 10 degrees. He reported that the airplane was moving violently down and left, and ground contact was inevitable. The instructor reported that there were no mechanical issues with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.