Cessna 172M N1620V

Summary

On 27 July 1996 at about 03:30 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N1620V was involved in an accident near Backus, Minnesota, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 July 1996 at 03:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Backus, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Backus Municipal (7Y3)

Coordinates

45.0697, -93.5804

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N1620V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Minneapolis → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CHI96LA256

2 people had minor injuries.

the pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude and his abrupt maneuver to avoid the tree tops. The dark night was a factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that he was above the glidepath on final approach and did not feel comfortable with the situation. He decided to execute a go-around. He advanced the throttle to full power and moved the flap switch up two notches from 40 degrees of flaps to 20 degrees of flaps. 'Everything seemed to be going fine when the next thing I saw was the tree tops.' The pilot 'instinctively pulled back on the yoke' to clear the trees. 'The airplane dipped to the left,' struck the trees and fell to the ground. Examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.