Cessna 172N N4977G

Summary

On 19 September 2021 at about 22:30 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N4977G was involved in an accident near Grass Valley, California, 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

19 September 2021 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Grass Valley, California, United States

Nearest airport

Nevada County (GOO)

Coordinates

39.2241, -121.0026

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N4977G

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA348

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to attain a proper touchdown point on the runway while landing in gusting wind conditions, which resulted in a runway overrun. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s distraction due to an electrical issue.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, he departed normally to fly the airport traffic pattern. After he turned to the base leg of the traffic pattern, he observed a low voltage indication on the annunciator panel and was unable to announce his base turn on the radio. The pilot then turned to the final approach leg of the traffic pattern without making the announcement on the radio and added three notches of flaps. He experienced “windshear” near the runway threshold and the airplane briefly ascended. The pilot attempted to regain his glide path by extending full flaps and the airplane floated down the runway. At the time he was concerned about climbing out, so he elected to continue the landing instead of performing a go-around. After the airplane eventually touched down on the runway, the pilot applied full braking, but the airplane skidded off the runway edge into a ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing. According to the pilot, he misjudged the landing distance and landed long to salvage the landing instead of attempting a go-around. He further remarked that the electrical issue affected his radio and prevented him from announcing his base and final turns in the airport traffic pattern, which may have influenced his decision to land promptly. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.