Cessna 120 N1807V

Summary

On 21 April 2018 at about 17:30 local time, a Cessna 120 registered N1807V was involved in an accident near Iola, Wisconsin, 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

21 April 2018 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Iola, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Central County (68C)

Coordinates

44.5056, -89.0250

Aircraft

Cessna 120

Registration

N1807V

Category

Airplane

Year built

1947

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wild Rose → Iola

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA18CA221

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s decision to reject the takeoff from a snow-covered grass surface, which resulted in a nose-over.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot in the tailwheel-equipped airplane with 26-inch bush tires installed, he intended to perform several ground runs to pack the wet, snow-covered grass surface and then take off. During the start of the first ground run, the airplane accelerated quickly, and the pilot decided to take off. He reported that he believed that the airplane had entered an area of deeper snow and "thought it would be safer and more conservative to stop." He did not realize the airplane had become airborne. The pilot decreased the throttle to idle, and the airplane then decelerated and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing lift strut. In the recommendation section of the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot Aircraft Accident Report, the pilot asserted that the accident could have been prevented if he had "assumed that the conditions were unacceptable as I could not ascertain with absolute certainty that the surface was acceptable." The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.