Cessna 172P N553CH

Summary

On 4 April 2003 at about 15:50 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N553CH was involved in an accident near North Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 April 2003 at 15:50

Classification

Accident

Location

North Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Nearest airport

North Las Vegas Airport (KVGT)

Coordinates

36.2931, -115.3481

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N553CH

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

North Las Vegas → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03FA124

2 people died.

the applicant pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane descended near vertically to ground impact on a private pilot certification practical flight test. There were no witnesses to the accident. The examiner and private pilot applicant departed to a practice area for a private certificate check ride. Passers-by noticed a fire and what appeared to be the wreckage of an airplane in the practice area and notified authorities. Examination of the wreckage revealed a vertical impact driving the engine up and aft beyond the firewall into the cabin area. The engine compartment and fuselage were heavily damaged by a ground fire. The right wing leading edge was accordioned with crush deformation nearly perpendicular to the chordline aft to the main spar on about a 30-degree angle from inboard to outboard, with evidence of airplane rotation to the left. No discrepancies were found with the airframe or engine during the examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.