Cessna 172N N259ER

Summary

On 1 December 2007 at about 19:45 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N259ER, operated by Washington Flying Club, was involved in an accident near Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 December 2007 at 19:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Montgomery County Airpark (GAI)

Coordinates

39.1683, -77.1650

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N259ER

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Washington Flying Club

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gaithersburg → Gaithersburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08LA049

2 people had minor injuries.

The student pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during an attempted touch-and-go. Contributing to the accident was the instructor's delay in taking remedial action, and the presence of trees in proximity to the side of the runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 12-hour student pilot and the certificated flight instructor (CFI) were conducting their first flight together. The student had completed one takeoff, traffic pattern circuit, and landing, and initiated another takeoff in response to the CFI's instruction. After lift off, the airplane began to veer to the left, and despite verbal commands by the CFI, the drift and turn continued. The CFI then tried to physically intervene on the flight controls, but was initially resisted by the student. The CFI recognized that they could not avoid a treeline located 80 feet from the runway edge, so he leveled the wings and attempted to shut down the engine. The airplane impacted the trees approximately 10 feet above ground level. Subsequent to the accident, the CFI stated that he normally emphasized transfer of control in the preflight briefing, but he did not discuss that with this student. The surface weather observation reported winds of 5 knots. The accident was the fifth one in 24 years that involved the same treeline. While the treeline was coincident with the runway proximity limit specified in the advisory circular for airport design, the airport's 2002 improvement plan prescribed an increase in the distance between the treeline and the runway edge. As of July 2009, the treeline had not been relocated.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.