Cessna 172P N9818L

Summary

On 26 October 1996 at about 13:59 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N9818L was involved in an accident near St. Croix. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 October 1996 at 13:59

Classification

Accident

Location

St. Croix

Nearest airport

Alexander Hamilton (STX)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N9818L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA97FA013

3 people died.

the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The purpose of the flight was to take CAP cadets on an orientation flight around the local area, and return to the airport. Witnesses observed the airplane taxi to runway 9, proceed onto the runway without performing a run-up, and take off. The captain of a regional airline, which departed after the Cessna, said the Cessna climbed to an altitude of about 900 feet then turned sharply to the left, followed by a sharp turn to the right. The captain said the airplane went into a 'steep' right spiral, and impacted the ground with no forward movement. In addition, the captain said that the wind was down the runway, it was a clear day, and it was not unusually turbulent. Most of the witnesses that saw the accident gave similar accounts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.