Cessna 177 N35296

Summary

On 31 July 2010 at about 15:10 local time, a Cessna 177 registered N35296 was involved in an accident near Rawlins, Wyoming, United States. 2 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

31 July 2010 at 15:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Rawlins, Wyoming, United States

Nearest airport

Rawlins Municipal Airport (RWL)

Coordinates

41.8054, -107.1997

Aircraft

Cessna 177

Registration

N35296

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rawlins → Scottsbluff

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR10LA376

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning, failure to properly use the takeoff checklist, and failure to lean the fuel mixture, which resulted in the airplane’s inability to attain sufficient airspeed due to the rich fuel mixture.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, prior to initiating the takeoff roll, he did not lean the fuel mixture. The airplane initially accelerated slowly, which the pilot expected at the high density altitude airport. About 50 feet above the ground, the pilot observed the engine rpm decreased from 2,700 to 2,500 rpm; the airplane was also losing altitude. The pilot elected to reduce the power and land on the runway overrun area; during the landing, the airplane struck a rock with the left main landing gear, which resulted in substantial damage to the elevator. A postaccident examination revealed that the spark plugs were carbon fouled, indicating that the engine was operating too rich. During the first engine run-up, the engine ran rough. After the spark plugs were cleaned, the engine ran normally with no anomalies noted. The airplane’s takeoff checklist notes, MIXTURE -- LEAN for maximum power at airports above 3,000 feet in elevation. The elevation of the airport was 6,813 feet. The density altitude at the time of the accident was 8,895 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.