Cessna 172 N8878B

Summary

On 30 September 2013 at about 18:00 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N8878B was involved in an accident near Rio Vista, Texas, United States. 3 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

30 September 2013 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Rio Vista, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Lowell Smith Jr (3TX6)

Coordinates

32.2333, -97.3806

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N8878B

Category

Airplane

Year built

1958

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rio Vista → Rio Vista

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN13LA581

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed during the initial climb after an excessive takeoff run from a grass airstrip, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane's critical angle-of-attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall and loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's inadequate supervision and delayed remediation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot and flight instructor were conducting the flight. The student reported that he and the flight instructor had landed at the airstrip to pick up a passenger. They then took off from the grass airstrip with the student flying the airplane. The airplane was about half to three-quarters of the way down the runway when it lifted off. The student pointed the airplane's nose forward to increase the airspeed, but the airplane was nearing the end of the runway. He raised the nose to climb higher, but the airplane would not climb. About 70 ft above ground level, the airplane stalled. The flight instructor then took the controls, but the airplane was not accelerating. The airplane struck a tree at the end of the airstrip and then impacted the ground. The pilot stated that he did not think the engine was producing sufficient power; however, no anomalies were found with the airplane during a postaccident examination. The runway was 2,600 ft long, and, based on the weather conditions at the time of the accident, the airplane's takeoff ground run distance to clear a 50-ft obstacle was 1,287 ft. Given that the airplane did not lift off until about half to three-quarters of the way down the runway, it is likely that there was insufficient runway distance remaining for the airplane to safely clear the trees at the end of the airstrip. The student raised the airplane's nose to gain altitude, which resulted in his failure to maintain adequate airspeed and led to the exceedance of the airplane's critical angle-of-attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.