Cessna 172 N6312E

Summary

On 18 January 2003 at about 19:40 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N6312E was involved in an accident near Chesapeake, Virginia, 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

18 January 2003 at 19:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Chesapeake, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Hampton Roads Executive (PVG)

Coordinates

36.7800, -76.4489

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N6312E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hampton Roads → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD03LA029

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to adequately remove snow and ice from the airplane's wings prior to takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot spent 1 1/2 hours prior to the flight brushing snow from the leading edges of the airplane's wings, but had left the remainder of snow pushed back on the wings. On takeoff, when the airplane reached an altitude of 300 feet agl, the airplane's stall horn activated. The pilot lowered the nose of the airplane to prevent a stall, but the stall horn continued to sound. She then executed a 180-degree turn back toward the runway, but was unable to reach it, and landed hard in a field adjacent to the airport. A witness, a Federal Aviation Administration Designated Pilot Examiner, saw the airplane taxiing through the ramp area and recalled that both of the airplane's wings were nearly covered with 4-inch tall chunks of snow and ice. The witness also reported that there was at least a 1/4-inch layer of ice and snow on the wings when she arrived to the scene of the accident. In a written statement, the pilot reported that she, "...failed to adequately remove some snow from the top of the wings." After the accident, the pilot voluntarily sought and received training regarding frost, icing, and snow and its effects on aircraft performance.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.