Cessna 172 N6261E

Summary

On 19 March 2000 at about 20:00 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N6261E was involved in an accident near New Brighton, Pennsylvania, United States. 3 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 March 2000 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

New Brighton, Pennsylvania, United States

Nearest airport

Black Rock Airport (P234)

Coordinates

40.7291, -80.2990

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N6261E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC00LA095

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the gusty wind conditions. A factor was the windshear encountered on final approach.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was making an approach towards the east, to an east-west, 1,500-foot grass airstrip. The airstrip was located in an area of rolling hills and valleys. The approach was flown over a valley, with the final segment flown over an up-slope of a hill. The runway threshold was on top of that hill. On short final, the airplane encountered windshear. The pilot added full power and pitched nose-up to initiate a go-around. However, the airplane descended rapidly, hit treetops, then 'mushed' into the ground about 20 feet short of the runway. Winds, recorded about 5 nautical miles away, were from 120 degrees true, at 16, gusting to 30 knots. The seven previous hourly observations included winds at 18 to 20 knots, with six of those having gusts at or above 30 knots. The pilot had about 9,000 hours of flight time, and was a captain for a major air cargo carrier.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.