20230102000649A

Accident · Destroyed

FAA accident report · Cessna 172 · Watsonville, CA · January 2, 2023

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Date: January 2, 2023 · 14:35 local
Place: Watsonville, CA
Airport: Watsonville Municipal
Phase of flight: Landing: Approach
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Destroyed
Aircraft: N7181A
Reported as: Cessna 172
Reported engine: Continental 0-300 series
People aboard: 1
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 1
Pilot’s certificate: Student
Pilot’s flight hours: 190 total190 in this make and model20 in the last 90 days

N7181ARegistered now · Cessna 172S/N 29281 · Built 1956 Airframe modelCessna 172 Engine modelContinental 0-300 seriesReciprocating

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

On January 2, 2023, at approximately 2:35 pm local, while conducting a VFR landing pattern approach from the downwind position for runway 20 at Watsonville Municipal Airport in Watsonville, CA under VMC, a Cessna 172 flown solo by a student pilot struck power lines approximately 650 feet short of the runway threshold and impacted the ground on airport property. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot suffered serious injuries. The student pilot had the proper endorsements to conduct the flight.

As the FAA filed it

ON JANUARY 2, 2023, AT APPROXIMATELY 2:35 PM LOCAL, WHILE CONDUCTING A VFR LANDING PATTERN APPROACH FROM THE DOWNWIND POSITION FOR RUNWAY 20 AT WATSONVILLE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT IN WATSONVILLE, CA UNDER VMC, A CESSNA 172 FLOWN SOLO BY A STUDENT PILOT STRUCK POWER LINES APPROXIMATELY 650 FEET SHORT OF THE RUNWAY THRESHOLD AND IMPACTED THE GROUND ON AIRPORT PROPERTY. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED AND THE PILOT SUFFERED SERIOUS INJURIES. THE STUDENT PILOT HAD THE PROPER ENDORSEMENTS TO CONDUCT THE FLIGHT.