Cessna 172M N9922V

Summary

On 22 December 2014 at about 14:52 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N9922V, operated by American Patrols Inc, was involved in an accident near Odessa, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 December 2014 at 14:52

Classification

Accident

Location

Odessa, Texas, United States

Coordinates

31.9839, -102.5281

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N9922V

Category

Airplane

Year built

1974

Engines

1

Operator

American Patrols Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Odessa → Odessa

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15FA083

1 person died.

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering at an excessive bank angle at a low altitude, which resulted in an accelerated stall and spin with insufficient altitude for a recovery.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was flying an aerial survey flight to look for oil and water pipeline leaks. Three witnesses reported seeing the airplane flying about 400 to 500 ft above ground level, enter a steep left bank, and then dive nose down toward the ground. One witness estimated that the airplane's bank angle was about 80 degrees. Shortly after, witnesses observed smoke and flames coming from the accident site. A witness at the accident site reported that the airplane was engulfed in flames with the airplane's tail in a vertical position and the wings flat on the ground. The leading edge crush angle was consistent with about a 30- to 40-degree nose-down, left-wing-low attitude. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Three days after the accident, another pilot overflew the accident area and observed a large water leak about 0.3 mile from the accident location. An oilfield worker who provided spill remediation estimated that the water would had to have been leaking for a few days for the leak to get so large. It is likely that the pilot observed the water leak during the accident flight and used an excessive bank angle to maneuver the airplane so that he could more closely observe the leak and that the airplane then experienced an accelerated stall with insufficient altitude for a recovery.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.