Cessna 172N N739NY

Summary

On 27 February 2011 at about 21:30 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N739NY, operated by Samuel Hazzard, Jr, was involved in an accident near Welch, West Virginia, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 February 2011 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Welch, West Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Welch Municipal (I25)

Coordinates

37.4167, -81.5239

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N739NY

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Samuel Hazzard, Jr

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Welch → Welch

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11LA168

2 people were seriously injured.

The unlicensed pilot’s decision to land on a closed runway with a tailwind, his failure to attain the proper touchdown point, and his delayed decision to attempt a go-around, resulting in a collision with trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The unlicensed pilot was practicing landings with a tailwind in the traffic pattern at a closed airport in an unregistered airplane. The pilot refused to provide a statement, but a witness stated that the airplane was too fast on landing and too slow on climbout after the landing was aborted. The airplane struck trees at the departure end of the runway, and then settled into trees below the elevated runway. A postcrash examination of the wreckage revealed no mechanical deficiencies that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.