Cessna 172N N4663D

Summary

On 9 March 2007 at about 22:45 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N4663D, operated by Westwind School of Aeronautics, was involved in an accident near Phoenix, Arizona, 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

9 March 2007 at 22:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

PHX Deer Valley AP (DVT)

Coordinates

33.6803, -112.0890

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N4663D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Westwind School of Aeronautics

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tucson → PHX Deer Valley

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA07CA074

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and uncontrolled descent into terrain during landing. A contributing factor was the pilot's distracted attention due to the inaccurate flap indicator.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was landing at his destination at the end of a cross-country flight. While turning onto final, the airplane was higher than normal and he extended the flaps to 30 degrees. The airplane was not descending normally and he looked at the flap indicator, which showed 20 degrees, although the selector arm was at 30 degrees. The pilot then moved the selector further down, attempting to obtain 30 degrees of flaps. The airplane rapidly slowed, the stall warning horn sounded, and the airplane veered sharply to the left. The pilot applied full throttle, retracted the flaps, and then the airplane impacted the ground. According to the aircraft recovery personnel, when the flaps were selected, the appropriate flap extension would occur. However, the indicator read 10 degrees off.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.