Cessna 172 N5577E

Summary

On 10 June 1999 at about 01:00 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N5577E, operated by Hillside Aviation, was involved in an accident near Weaverville, California, United States. 2 people were 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

10 June 1999 at 01:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Weaverville, California, United States

Nearest airport

Weaverville (054)

Coordinates

40.7399, -122.9292

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N5577E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Hillside Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hayfork → Redding

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX99LA213

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure to follow prescribed procedures and directives for the particular airport.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that he obtained his license so that he could make routine trips of a 100 plus miles over mountainous terrain for business. He had made the roundtrip several times but had never landed at any of the four alternate airports along the route. On the day of the accident he decided to take a friend with him on this routine trip and checkout the airports on the way back. The first airport was closed so they overflew the runway at 500 agl. They landed at the second airport, then departed. At the third airport they performed a touch-and-go landing. The pilot informed his passenger that they would not be landing at the fourth airport, but instead they would perform a low-level flyby. During the pilot's training his flight instructor had informed him that the accident airport was a one-way runway due to obstructions at the north end. According to published information you land on runway 36 and take off on runway 18 due to rising terrain and unfavorable winds. During the low-level flyby of runway 36, about 15 to 20 feet agl, the pilot reported that he experienced a strong downdraft, and subsequently during the attempted go-around into rising terrain, the airplane collided with trees. The pilot reported that the wind was 300 degrees at 10 knots. The density altitude was calculated about 3,773 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.