Cessna 172N N6594D

Summary

On 12 July 2010 at about 23:00 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N6594D was involved in an accident near Palmer, Alaska, United States. 3 people were 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

12 July 2010 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Palmer, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.3667, -148.3000

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N6594D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Elmendorf AFB → Elemdorf AFB

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC10CA060

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's decision to fly towards rising terrain that exceeded the climb capability of the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he had flown over the Knik Glacier before, but he had been solo at the time and this was his first time with passengers. He approached the glacier at 1,500 feet mean sea level (msl) and initiated a climb. He noticed that the airplane's performance was degraded compared to his previous crossings, and he attributed it to the extra weight of his two passengers; however, he believed he would still make it over the glacier. At the 8,000 feet msl he noticed that he was much closer to the glacier than he expected and decided to turn back. He started a right turn, but the airplane was too low and slow and began to stall. First the right wing tip hit the snow, then the left wing tip hit before the the airplane nosed into the snow and over. The pilot and passengers egressed from the inverted airplane and were rescued about an hour later.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.