Cessna 172M N20931

Summary

On 31 October 2006 at about 19:00 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N20931, operated by Norfolk Aviation Inc., was involved in an accident near Wakefield, Virginia, 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

31 October 2006 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Wakefield, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Wakefield Municipal Airport (AKQ)

Coordinates

36.9872, -77.0011

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N20931

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Norfolk Aviation Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Emporia → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC07CA019

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's failure to maintain control during the landing. A factor to the accident was the wind gusts.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While on a solo cross country flight in a Cessna 172M, the student pilot elected to divert instead of continuing with his planned flight after the airplane's radios began to operate intermittently and the electrical system failed. During the landing at the diversionary airport, the winds were gusting at 18 to 25 knots, though the winds had been originally forecasted to be favorable for his route of flight. During the landing the airplane lost "lift," touched down on the nose landing gear, and porpoised about three times before the student pilot was able to regain control. A post accident examination of the airplane revealed that it had incurred substantial damage. No anomalies with the electrical system were discovered.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.