Cessna 172N N8279E

Summary

On 30 October 1993 at about 14:30 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N8279E was involved in an accident near Joshua Tree, 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

30 October 1993 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Joshua Tree, California, United States

Nearest airport

Hi Desert (L80)

Coordinates

34.1491, -116.2708

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N8279E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX94LA032

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure to maintain a proper descent rate on final approach. A factor in the accident was the student's limited total experience.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 22 hour student pilot rented the aircraft to practice takeoff and landings. The pilot reported that all aspects of the approach were normal with a stabilized 400 feet per minute descent rate until the aircraft was about 200 feet AGL on short final. The pilot said that the aircraft suddenly encountered a strong sink rate accompanied by a loss of airspeed. The pilot said he immediately applied power and increased the pitch attitude; however, the descent rate could not be arrested prior to the aircraft's main landing gear colliding with a dirt berm about 30 feet short of the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.