Cessna R172E N23788

Summary

On 6 July 2024 at about 20:26 local time, a Cessna R172E registered N23788, operated by Scott Aviation Inc, was involved in an incident near Hillrose, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 July 2024 at 20:26

Classification

Incident

Location

Hillrose, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

40.3508, -103.4430

Aircraft

Cessna R172E

Registration

N23788

Category

Airplane

Year built

1967

Engines

1

Operator

Scott Aviation Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Morgan → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN24LA270

Nobody was injured.

The binding of the left flap due to improper maintenance.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor stated that while retracting the flaps after performing a practice stall recovery during the instructional flight, they heard a loud “pop.” The flight instructor took over control of the airplane from the student pilot and noticed that the ailerons were jammed. The flight instructor elected to make an emergency landing on a highway. While maneuvering toward the highway, the flight instructor did not change the flap configuration and had to use rudder control only for directional control. The flight instructor landed the airplane on the highway without incident. A post incident examination revealed that the left flap inboard track angle brackets were pushed forward and detached from their installed location by the flap support arms. This allowed the flap to contact the aileron, jamming its movement. The failed angle brackets appeared to have been replaced; however, there was no entry of the replacement in the airplane logbooks. Neither the rivets on the left flap inboard angle brackets nor the brackets themselves were painted, indicating that they were not produced by an authorized manufacturer. In combination with the installation of unapproved parts and the condition of the upper left flap roller, which did not rotate smoothly, the flap track slot was likely worn enough to allow the flap support arms to contact the replacement left flap inboard track angle brackets during the retraction of the flaps.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.