Cessna 172M N8962V

Summary

On 25 July 2001 at about 05:46 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N8962V, operated by Sun Air Aviation, LLC., was involved in an accident near Placerville, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 July 2001 at 05:46

Classification

Accident

Location

Placerville, California, United States

Nearest airport

Placerville (PVF)

Coordinates

38.7242, -120.7533

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N8962V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Sun Air Aviation, LLC.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Camarillo → Placerville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX01LA259

1 person had minor injuries.

Inadequate airspeed during climb out following an aborted landing that was precipitated by the pilot's misjudged speed/distance on final approach. Also, contributing to the accident was the pilot's inexperience in the type of operation, his failure to properly configure the airplane's flaps for the go-around, and the dark nighttime condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Upon reaching the destination airport on a dark, nighttime cross-country flight, the pilot's approach was too high and fast, so he performed a go-around. On his second approach, the pilot was also too high, but the airplane touched down on the 4,200-foot-long runway. Concerned about being able to stop before reaching the runway's departure end, the pilot added full engine power and tried to go around. The engine power increased normally. During the initial climb out, the pilot experienced difficulty controlling the airplane. Contrary to Cessna's published recommended balked landing procedure, the pilot failed to retract the wing flaps from their 40-degrees setting. The airspeed was slow, the airplane stalled, and it impacted trees and terrain. About 1.5 months earlier, the pilot was issued a private pilot certificate. The accident occurred during the pilot's first, solo, night cross-country flight, and his total pilot-in-command night experience was 1.5 hours.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.