Cessna 172G N1374F

Summary

On 17 November 2006 at about 00:00 local time, a Cessna 172G registered N1374F was involved in an accident near Ankeny, Iowa, United States. One person was 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

17 November 2006 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Ankeny, Iowa, United States

Nearest airport

Rush City Regional (ROS)

Coordinates

41.6914, -93.5664

Aircraft

Cessna 172G

Registration

N1374F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rush City → Ankeny

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CHI07CA025

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper decision to land on an unlighted runway at night, and her resulting failure to attain a proper touchdown point leading to the landing over run. Contributing factors were the night (low light) condition and the ditch encountered during the overrun.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was substantially damaged when it encountered a ditch after over running the runway pavement during a night landing. The pilot reported that the runway lights did not come on when she attempted to activate them via the airplane radio prior to landing. She attempted to activate them a total of 3 times. She subsequently overflew the airport in order to identify the runway. She stated that she "flew downwind to where [she] estimated the end of the runway would be [and] turned to final." She noted that she flew over the runway "low" to see the centerline and decided to land. She then realized that the airplane had touched down "well down [the] runway." She was unable to stop before the end of the pavement and the airplane rolled into the grass. She stated that as the airplane slowed she attempted to turn back; however, she encountered a drainage ditch causing the nose landing gear to collapse and damaging the firewall. The pilot reported that after the accident she realized that the radio was set to the incorrect frequency. The radio was set to 120.9 instead of the correct Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) for the destination airport of 122.9. The airport manager reported that the runway lights functioned properly when activated after the accident. He also noted that the lights are normally off until activated by a pilot via the CTAF.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.