Cessna 195 N4426C

Summary

On 17 February 2013 at about 03:45 local time, a Cessna 195 registered N4426C was involved in an accident near Austin, Texas, 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

17 February 2013 at 03:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Austin, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Austin Executive Airport (EDC)

Coordinates

30.3975, -97.5664

Aircraft

Cessna 195

Registration

N4426C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Austin → Fredericksburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN13LA170

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's use of an excessive taxi speed, which resulted in the airplane overrunning the end of the unlit taxiway after the failure of the right wing landing light.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, as the airplane approached the end of the unlit taxiway, adjacent to the runway threshold, the right wing landing light failed, significantly reducing his forward visibility in the dark night conditions. The pilot cycled the right wing landing light switch as he applied wheel brakes; however, the light did not illuminate. The pilot stated that he was unable to stop the airplane before it departed the end of the taxiway and traveled down an embankment. The airplane overran the end of the taxiway despite the pilot's immediate application of brakes after the failure of the landing light, which is consistent with the pilot's use of an excessive taxi speed. Although the pilot did not recall seeing any reflective markers identifying the end of the taxiway, the end of the taxiway was identified by ground-level red reflectors, and the taxiway edges were identified by evenly spaced blue reflective posts. In response to the accident, the airport authority agreed to purchase additional blue reflective posts to more adequately mark the limits of the unlit taxiway. Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration agreed to amend its Airport Facility Directory to reflect that the taxiway edges were marked by reflector posts and that the northwest end of runway 13-31 and parallel taxiway had a 16-foot descending embankment beginning at the end of the pavement.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.