Cessna 177 N29888

Summary

On 14 January 2007 at about 23:15 local time, a Cessna 177 registered N29888 was involved in an accident near Carrabelle, Florida, 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

14 January 2007 at 23:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Carrabelle, Florida, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 177

Registration

N29888

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pensacola → Clearwater

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

MIA07LA039

Nobody was injured.

The failure of maintenance personnel to detect corrosion and a fatigue crack during the last annual inspection.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During cruise flight an 18-inch section of one propeller blade separated as a result of a non-detected fatigue crack. The pilot flew towards the nearest airport based on his on-board GPS, but the beacon and runway lights were out of service. By the time he visually spotted the airport and flew towards the approach end of the runway, he had insufficient altitude to reach it. He landed in the tops of trees approximately 100 yards short of the runway, and exited the airplane. Postaccident examination of the propeller revealed blisters (consistent with the onset of corrosion) near the fatigue origin point. The propeller was last inspected 3 months 1 day earlier; the airplane had been operated for 31.57 hours at the time of the failure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.