Cessna 172S N962SP

Summary

On 19 July 2015 at about 23:09 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N962SP, operated by Richmond Pilots Corp, was involved in an accident near Linden, New Jersey, United States. 4 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

19 July 2015 at 23:09

Classification

Accident

Location

Linden, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Linden (LDJ)

Coordinates

40.6175, -74.2444

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N962SP

Category

Airplane

Year built

1999

Engines

1

Operator

Richmond Pilots Corp

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Linden → Montauk

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15LA274

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s delayed decision to reject the takeoff, which resulted in a runway overrun. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to properly configure the flaps for maximum takeoff performance with the airplane near its maximum gross weight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the airplane felt "heavy" during liftoff from the 4,140-ft-long asphalt runway with the airplane near its maximum gross weight. He then attempted to reject the takeoff and land on the runway; however, the airplane bounced two or three times and then departed the runway, struck a fence about 600 ft beyond the runway end, and then came to rest upright. The pilot also reported that the flaps were retracted during the takeoff attempt and that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. Review of a takeoff distance chart for the make and model airplane revealed that, at maximum gross weight and with the atmospheric conditions that existed at the time of the accident, the airplane would have required a ground roll of 1,945 ft to clear a 50-ft obstacle. However, the calculations assumed a flap setting of 10 degrees and calm wind. Given that the airplane took off with an approximate 8-knot headwind, its performance would have been better than calculated. Therefore, it's likely that the airplane would have had sufficient runway to successfully depart the 4,140-ft-long runway with or without the 10-degree flap extension. The pilot's failure to use the flaps combined with the airplane being near its maximum gross weight likely resulted in the airplane feeling "heavy" to the pilot and led to his decision to reject the takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.