Cessna 172 N52950

Summary

On 1 September 2016 at about 21:12 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N52950, operated by Land and Sea Aviation Alaska, was involved in an accident near Anchorage, Alaska, 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

1 September 2016 at 21:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Merrill Field (MRI)

Coordinates

61.2131, -149.8400

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N52950

Category

Airplane

Year built

1981

Engines

1

Operator

Land and Sea Aviation Alaska

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Anchorage

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA16CA487

Nobody was injured.

The airplane’s encounter with a developing sink hole during taxi on the ramp area.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that during taxi the airplane started to lean to the right, so he looked out of his window to see if the right tire was flat. He further reported that "the ramp was opening up into a 2 foot wide dark black hole" underneath the right main landing gear. The flight instructor and student pilot egressed from the airplane without further incident. A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the empennage. The flight instructor reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Photographs provided by Federal Aviation Administration showed that the right main landing gear had broken through the pavement into a sink hole underneath.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.