# Accident 19980507008519A: Cessna 172M, Elkhart, IN, May 7, 1998

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: May 7, 1998, 22:04 local time
- Place: Elkhart, IN
- Airport: Elkhart Municipal
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Takeoff Ground Roll
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 41.7194° N, 86.0032° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at ELKHART MUNI (EKM), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=41.7194&lon=-86.0032&mi=10
- Aircraft: N8994V, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N8994V-2018-10-29) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 172M (registry code 2072418, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172m) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming 0-320 series (registry code 41508, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 172M
- Reported engine: LYC O320E2D
- People aboard: 4
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 406 total, 300 in this make and model, 6 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB CHI98LA149](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI98LA149) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980507008519A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

MADE FAST TURN ONTO RUNWAY FOR TAKEOFF. LOST CONTROL WIDE TURN CAUSED 172 TO HIT CHAIN LINK FENCES. (.19)ON MAY 6, 1998, AT 2204 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME, A CESSNA 172M, N8994V, OPERATED BY A PRIVATE PILOT COLLIDED WITH TWO FENCES DURING TAKEOFF AT THE ELKHART MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, ELKHART, INDIANA.  THE PILOT AND PASSENGER WERE NOT INJURED.  THE AIRPLANE WAS SUBSTANTILLY DAMAGED.  THE 14 CFR PART 91 FLIGHT WAS OPERATING IN VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS WITHOUT A FLIGHT PLAN. N8994V WAS ON TAXIWAY B-1 HOLDING SHORT OF RUNWAY 27 PRIOR TO TAKEOFF.  WHEN CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF, THE PILOT APPLIED FULL POWER FROM HIS HOLD SHORT POSITION WITHOUT MAKING A RIGHT TURN ONTO THE RUNWAY.  ACCORDING TO THE PILOT HE THOUGHT HE WAS ALREADY RUNWAY 27.  ACCORDI NG TO AN INSPECTOR FROM THE SOUTH BEND FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION FLIGHT STANDARDS DISTRICT OFFICE AND WITNESSES, THE AIRPLANE CROSSED OVER RUNWAY 27 AND PROCEEDED THROUGH A GRASS COVERED DITCH.  AS IT CAME OUT OF THE DITCH IT BECAME AIRBORNE, TOUCHING DOWN IN A PARKING AREA ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF THE AIRPORT.  THE RIGHT WING OF THE AIRPLANE CONTACTED THE CORNER POST OF THIS FENCE WHICH RESULTED IN THE AIRPLANE TURNING TO THE WEST. IT THEN STRUCK ANOTHER PORTION OF THE FENCE PRIOR TO COMING TO REST.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    (.4) N8994V WAS ON TAXIWAY B-1 HOLDING SHORT OF RUNWAY 27 PRIOR TO TAKEOFF. WHEN CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF, THE PILOT APPLIED FULL POWER FROM HIS HOLD SHORT POSITION WITHOUT MAKING A RIGHT TURN ONTO THE RUNWAY.  ACCORDING TO THE PILOT HE THOUGHT HE WAS ALREADY RUNWAY 27.  THE AIRPLANE TRAVELED ACROSS THE RUNWAY, THROUGH A DITCH AND BECAME AIRBORNE.  IT THEN LANDED IN A PARKING AREA AND CONTINUED ON UNTIL COMING TO REST AFTER CONTACTING A FENCE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE AIRPORT.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB CHI98LA149](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI98LA149), May 7, 1998: Cessna 172M (N8994V), Elkhart, IN, substantial damage. Probable cause: the pilot's disorientation that led him to believe he was on the active runway. A factor was the pilot's inattentiveness.

## Other reports on N8994V (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Accident 20180804006739A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20180804006739A), Aug 4, 2018: Cessna 172M (N8994V), Dowagiac, MI, Substantial damage. On August 4, 2018 at 7:11 pm eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172M aircraft, N8994V, registered to an association and operated by a private pilot, received…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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