Cessna 172 N6670A

Summary

On 26 August 2007 at about 13:27 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N6670A was involved in an accident near Julian, West Virginia, United States. 2 people were on board and one 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

26 August 2007 at 13:27

Classification

Accident

Location

Julian, West Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Mallory (WV12)

Coordinates

38.1625, -81.8550

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N6670A

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mallory → Morgantown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC07CA204

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning. Contributing to the accident were the overcast cloud conditions and the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument-rated pilot of the Cessna 172 reported that he and a passenger took off in clear skies for an early morning breakfast at an airport about 125 nautical miles to the northeast. Upon reaching the destination, the pilot found he could not descend below a cloud layer, and opted to return to the departure airport. Upon arrival at that airport, it was also covered by a low cloud layer, so the pilot continued to the south, toward rising terrain, to find a suitable airport to land. About 15 miles away, he found a hole in clouds and descended. With continued low ceilings and low fuel, the pilot made a precautionary landing to a field. During the landing roll, the pilot "lost control" of the airplane. The right wingtip struck the ground, then the left main landing gear folded inboard, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the outboard 3 feet of the left wing bent upwards about 30 degrees. The pilot did not obtain a weather briefing or file a flight plan, and no mechanical anomalies were noted with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.