Cessna 172N N734UW

Summary

On 3 November 2000 at about 03:00 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N734UW, operated by Felts Field Aviation, was involved in an accident near Spangle, Washington, United States. One person was 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

3 November 2000 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Spangle, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Spangle Field

Coordinates

47.4395, -117.3500

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N734UW

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Felts Field Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Spokane → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

SEA01LA013

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequately executed remedial action and his failure to ensure that the aircraft touched down at the proper location. Factors include a dark night, an unlighted runway, and trees off the approach end of the runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a night approach to an unlighted field, the pilot came in high in order to avoid the trees off the approach end of the runway. After crossing the runway threshold and pulling the power to idle, the pilot realized that he was too high. He therefore elected to slip the aircraft in order to lose altitude. During the slip, the aircraft drifted beyond the side boundary of the runway and touched down in an adjacent plowed field. Although the touchdown was uneventful, soon thereafter the nose gear sank into the soft dirt and the aircraft nosed over. According to the pilot, he did not realize he had allowed the aircraft to drift over the plowed field until after the nose gear started to sink into the terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.