Cessna 172N N75510

Summary

On 21 October 2003 at about 14:10 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N75510 was involved in an accident near Olive Branch, Mississippi, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 October 2003 at 14:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Olive Branch, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Olive Branch Airport (OLV)

Coordinates

34.9783, -89.4533

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N75510

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Olive Branch → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA04FA007

1 person died.

The student pilot's failure to maintain airspeed (Vso), which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin, an uncontrolled descent, and an impact with terrain. A factor in the accident was his failure to follow the airplane's operating checklist and retract the wing flaps for takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses stated that the airplane had just taken off from runway 18, and during the initial climb they saw it in a nose-high pitch attitude. They further stated that about 75 to 100 feet in the air they saw the airplane suddenly turn to the east, and descend straight down, impacting the ground. Examination of the wreckage showed that the airplane's flaps had been set to 20 degrees, and no preaccident anomalies were noted to exist with the airplane's airframe, flight controls, or engine. At the time of the accident, the student had accumulated a total of 39.7 hours total flight experience, and he was conducted his third solo flight. The student's flight instructor had specified in an endorsement he had provided to the student for solo flight, that solo flights be performed in a Cessna 172 , and that the flights be conducted at the Olive Branch Airport, when crosswinds were less than 5 knots. The reported surface winds at the Olive Branch Airport, Olive Branch, Mississippi, were from 270 degrees at 8 knots, gusting to 14 knots. The pilot's operating handbook for the airplane specifies that flap settings in excess of 10 degrees are not approved for takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.