Cessna 172S N674SP

Summary

On 27 June 2011 at about 13:40 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N674SP, operated by Arrow West Aviation Inc, was involved in an accident near Price, Utah, 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

27 June 2011 at 13:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Price, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Price Carbon County (KPUC)

Coordinates

39.5592, -109.7097

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N674SP

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Arrow West Aviation Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Price → Price

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR11CA295

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's decision to attempt a takeoff at a density altitude outside of the takeoff performance envelope of the aircraft along with using an aircraft flap setting higher than the manufacture's recommended setting for takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot took off for a training flight to a dirt strip approximately 50 miles to the east. Upon landing at the strip the pilot decided to initiate a short/soft field take off down the 3,600-foot-long runway. The pilot reported that he took off with 20 degrees of flaps and was never able to get more than 10 feet off the runway surface area. At the end of the runway the pilot noticed two 3-4 foot high dirt berms. He pulled back on the yoke, missing the first berm, but the airplane settled back down and struck the second one. The resulting impact caused the aircraft to nose over and come to a rest inverted. The airplane's pilot operating handbook (POH) states that soft or rough field takeoffs should be performed with no more than 10 degrees of flaps. Furthermore the airport's density altitude at the time of the accident was calculated to be approximately 10,000 feet, which is 2,000 feet above the maximum altitude listed in the takeoff performance charts in the POH. The pilot reported no mechanical issues with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.