Cessna 152 N25449

Summary

On 17 June 2020 at about 22:00 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N25449 was involved in an accident near McAlpin, Florida, 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

17 June 2020 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

McAlpin, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Little River Airport (FL10)

Coordinates

30.1181, -82.9136

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N25449

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

McAlpin → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA20LA219

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to abort the takeoff after recognizing poor airplane acceleration, the reason for which could not be determined based on available evidence. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s likely inadvertent initiation of the takeoff with the ignition switch in 1 position rather than both.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After performing an engine runup, the private pilot initiated the takeoff roll within allowable weight limits. When the flight was about midway along the 2,600 ft long grass runway at a lesser than normal indicated airspeed for that point along the runway, he thought about aborting but elected to continue and rotated at 50 knots near the departure end of the runway. The airplane remained in ground effect, and he pushed the yoke to increase airspeed while flying through a gap in trees past the departure end of the runway. The airplane reached an airspeed of 50 to 55 knots and climbed to an altitude of about 35 ft above ground level; however, it subsequently struck trees, stalled, and impacted the ground resulting in a small postcrash fire in the engine compartment area due to a broken carburetor. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed no preimpact anomalies. Although the pilot later attributed the poor performance to his initiating the takeoff with the ignition switch positioned to one magneto rather than both, it was in the off position when first viewed by recovery personnel 2 days later.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.