Cessna R182 N2383C

Summary

On 29 March 2017 at about 17:25 local time, a Cessna R182 registered N2383C, operated by Scott Atwell Insurance Services Inc, was involved in an accident near Mooresville, North Carolina, 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

29 March 2017 at 17:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Mooresville, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Atwell (1NC2)

Coordinates

35.6608, -80.7894

Aircraft

Cessna R182

Registration

N2383C

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Scott Atwell Insurance Services Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mooresville → Kingston

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA17LA141

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to properly configure the airplane's flaps for takeoff, which resulted in a longer ground roll and subsequent runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After an uneventful preflight inspection and engine runup, the private pilot attempted to take off from a 1,700-ft-long turf runway for the personal flight. During the takeoff roll, as the airplane reached a point on the runway where it would normally lift off (about 1,200 ft down the runway), the pilot pulled back on the yoke, but the airplane did not climb. The pilot recalled that the airspeed was close to 60 knots; he did not recall any engine instrument indications and noted that the engine sounded normal. When he realized that the airplane was not going to take off and a collision appeared imminent, he advised his passenger to prepare for impact. As the airplane approached a fence just beyond the departure end of the runway, he pulled back on the yoke and the airplane lifted off, flew over the fence, then descended and struck another fence before coming to rest in the driveway of his residence. Examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Given this and the pilot's description that the engine appeared to be operating normally during the takeoff, it is unlikely that a partial loss of engine power contributed to the accident. Review of takeoff performance data in the pilot operating handbook for the airplane make and model revealed that, given the airplane's weight and approximate weather conditions around the time of the accident, the airplane should have been able to become airborne with the runway available; however, the data assumed the flaps were set to 20° extension. Although the pilot believed the flaps were "down" when he started the takeoff roll, he noticed that they were "up" after the accident, which suggests that he may not have actually set them to 20° before initiating the takeoff. This fully retracted flap setting may have reduced the airplane's takeoff performance and resulted in a longer ground roll than expected.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.