Cessna 172P N98574

Summary

On 30 March 2000 at about 19:24 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N98574 was involved in an accident near Ballston Spa, New York, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 March 2000 at 19:24

Classification

Accident

Location

Ballston Spa, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Saratoga County (5B2)

Coordinates

42.9992, -73.8506

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N98574

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC00FA106

2 people died.

a loss of control for undetermined reason(s).

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and student pilot departed on a local training flight. Witnesses observed the airplane on its initial climb roll off on its left wing and descend into a wooded area. One witness thought the airplane was in a steep nose up climb prior to rolling left and descending. A post crash fire destroyed the cockpit/cabin, and the seat rails and forward seats could not identified. No evidence of a pre-existing mechanical failure or malfunction was found with the airplane or engine. A previous seat slippage was documented for the left seat in the airplane a month earlier. However, there was no evidence that it had occurred again. The airplane was equipped with primary seat locks to prevent the seats from slipping off of the end of the seat rails. Cessna Aircraft Co. issued a service bulletin on secondary seat locks to prevent rearward seat slippage, which they classified as mandatory. However, the bulletin had not been accomplished on the airplane, and was not required by the FAA. A check of medical records revealed the student pilot was 6 ft 3 inches tall, and weighed 288 pounds, while the flight instructor was 5 ft, 10 inches tall, and weighted 156 pounds.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.