Cessna 172M N74WC

Summary

On 22 May 2008 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N74WC, operated by Eugene H. Haskins, was involved in an accident near Chuckey, Tennessee, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 May 2008 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Chuckey, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Hensley Airpark (04TN)

Coordinates

36.1761, -82.6733

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N74WC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Eugene H. Haskins

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chuckey → Blounitville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08CA191

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the takeoff roll. Contributing to the accident was his failure to abort the takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of a Cessna 172M said that the preflight, runup, and initial takeoff roll on runway 1 "were normal." During the takeoff roll, the airplane veered left onto the grass, and the pilot's efforts to direct the airplane back onto the runway were "unsuccessful." The airplane crossed a taxiway perpendicular to the runway, and became airborne. It continued to drift left, and the left wing struck a tree at a point approximately 25 feet above the ground. The airplane then descended and impacted the ground. It came to rest upright, on a heading of approximately 245 degrees, in the grass on the west side of the runway. The pilot exited through his door, and tried unsuccessfully to put out a fire in the engine compartment, using the airplane's hand held fire extinguisher. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and engine compartment. Runway 1 was dry asphalt, and measured 3,000 feet long and 50 feet wide. The pilot reported the winds as "light and variable." The reported wind at an airport located approximately 22 miles northeast of the accident location, about the time of the accident, was winds from 280 degrees at 7 knots, direction variable from 260 to 330 degrees.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.