Cessna 172B N7550X

Summary

On 8 July 2002 at about 17:02 local time, a Cessna 172B registered N7550X was involved in an accident near Denton, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, 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

8 July 2002 at 17:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Denton, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Denton Municipal Airport (DTO)

Coordinates

33.1947, -97.1981

Aircraft

Cessna 172B

Registration

N7550X

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Denton → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW02LA203

1 person died.

The pilot's misjudgment of distance and altitude. Contributing factors were the pilot's diverted attention and the runway localizer antenna.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during the approach for landing, he was distracted by an aircraft taking off on the same runway. The pilot stated that he was high and fast and with flaps extended the aircraft was floating down the runway. Touch down was made toward the end of the runway. The aircraft was still traveling at a high speed when it ran off the end of the runway and collided with the localizer antenna located approximately 300 feet from the end of the runway edge. The aircraft came to rest approximately 108 feet beyond the antenna. Tire marks were noted on the runway about 271 feet from the end of the runway pavement. Tire tracks through the grass indicated a slight left turn just prior to the aircraft colliding nearly centered through the localizer antenna length. During the post accident examination, no evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction was noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.