Cessna 172 N6950A

Summary

On 24 September 2018 at about 13:57 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N6950A was involved in an accident near Winter Haven, Florida, United States. One person was 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

24 September 2018 at 13:57

Classification

Accident

Location

Winter Haven, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Winter Haven'S Gilbert (GIF)

Coordinates

28.0578, -81.7586

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N6950A

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Winter Haven → Winter Haven

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA18LA257

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot’s improper pitch attitude control during the initial climb, which resulted in a loss of airspeed, and his subsequent decision to conduct a 180° turn following the perceived anomaly, which resulted in a runway overrun.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was conducting a supervised solo flight in the airport traffic pattern. Each of the previous two takeoff and landings were uneventful. During the initial climb on the third takeoff, the student observed the airspeed rapidly decrease. He declared an emergency, lowered the nose, and turned the airplane 180° to land on the runway. The airplane overran the end of the runway and impacted a fence, resulting in substantial damage to the windshield and left wing. The student’s instructor witnessed the takeoff and stated that the airplane’s angle of attack was excessively high and that there would have been adequate runway remaining for the student to land straight ahead instead of turning 180°. Postaccident examination of the engine did not reveal any anomalies. It is likely that the student pilot’s excessively nose-high pitch attitude during the takeoff resulted in the observed loss of airspeed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.