Cessna 172S N645PD

Summary

On 3 August 2013 at about 03:20 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N645PD, operated by Westfield Flight Academy, was involved in an accident near Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 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

3 August 2013 at 03:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States

Nearest airport

Portsmouth Intn'l Airport (PSM)

Coordinates

43.0778, -70.8231

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N645PD

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Westfield Flight Academy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Portsmouth → Westfield

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA13CA350

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection resulting in his failure to remove the pin he used to lock the flight controls in place of the approved control lock.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that in preparation for a night flight, he flew earlier that same evening. He inspected the airplane and noted the control lock was not installed in the control column. While searching for the control lock he located a “straight pin” in a seatback pocket and installed it. He left the airport and returned later than evening, and performed a preflight inspection of the airplane removing the straight pin. He departed and flew to his destination airport where he landed uneventfully. After landing he went to a fixed base operator and filed a flight plan for the return flight, then returned to the airplane and started the engine. He taxied to the run-up area of runway 34 where he performed the before takeoff checklist but did not check that the flight controls were free and clear for fear of having his tablet knocked off the yoke mount. He advised the controller that he was ready for departure and was cleared for takeoff. He taxied onto the runway and applied power noting the airspeed increased normally. After the airplane rotated it climbed to an altitude of about 3 feet and settled back down on the runway and bounced. Confused as to what was occurring, he added nose up trim to assist in the climb. At this point the airplane climbed to about 10 feet, then the nose pitched downward and the nose wheel struck the runway. After coming to a stop he switched the headlamp he was wearing from red to white and noticed the pin used to secure the flight controls was in the control lock hole. He removed the pin and retained possession of it. Post accident inspection of the airplane by a FAA inspector revealed substantial damage to the firewall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.