Cessna 172M N789FW

Summary

On 19 December 2000 at about 02:27 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N789FW was involved in an accident near Medford, New Jersey, 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

19 December 2000 at 02:27

Classification

Accident

Location

Medford, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Flying W Airport (N14)

Coordinates

40.2992, -74.5210

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N789FW

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Medford → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Not Reported

NTSB number

IAD01LA020

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to attain the proper touchdown point. Factors included the loss of electrical power, the dark night, and the pilot's lack of night experience.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a local night VFR flight, the airplane experienced a complete loss of electrical power, and the pilot returned to his home airport. The pilot was unable to activate the runway lights, but the runway was equipped with VASI approach lighting. The passenger shined a flashlight on the instruments, and the pilot performed a no-flaps approach to a landing halfway down the runway. The airplane overran the runway and struck a ditch. Interpolation of a short field landing distance performance chart from the airplane owner's manual revealed that the distance required to land over a 50-foot obstacle with no flaps deployed was 1,687 feet. The runway was 3,496 feet long, and 75 feet wide. The pilot was issued his pilot certificate on the day before the accident, and had 47 hours of flight experience, 3.5 hours of which was at night. All of his flight experience was in make and model. A test of the airplane's electrical system revealed that the voltage regulator was inoperative.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.