- Date
- July 14, 2001, 16:30 local (Jul 15, 2001, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N78254Cessna 172K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 3, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20010714039999A
- Case key
- 52747
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's delay in aborting the takeoff roll.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot was departing from a 3,700 feet long, paved runway. During the takeoff roll, about midway down the runway, she felt that the airplane was not going to fly as the airspeed exceeded 70 knots, so she closed the throttle, and applied heavy braking. The airplane veered slightly to the right, continued off the end of the runway, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and engine firewall. An FAA airworthiness inspector traveled to the accident airport and examined the airplane. He reported that he was unable to detect any preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On July 14, 2001, about 1630 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 172K airplane, N78254, sustained substantial damage during an aborted takeoff from the Wasilla Airport, Wasilla, Alaska. The solo student pilot was not injured. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) instructional flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on July 14, the student pilot reported that she was practicing touch-and-go landings, and that she had completed two touch-and-go landings on runway 03. She said that during the second landing, she inadvertently touched down farther down the runway than anticipated, so she elected to perform a full stop landing, taxi back to the end of the runway, and utilize the full length of the 3,700 feet long, paved runway. She said that during the takeoff roll, about midway down the runway, she felt that the airplane was not going to fly as the airspeed exceeded 70 knots, so she closed the throttle, and applied heavy braking. The airplane veered slightly to the right, continued off the end of the runway, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and engine firewall. The airplane was retrieved from the accident site and transported to the parking area.
On July 17, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector from the Anchorage Flight Standards District Office, traveled to the accident airport and examined the airplane. He reported that he was unable to detect any preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N78254
- Reported as
- Cessna 172K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17257547
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Elizabeth A. Hanson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Z16 · Wasilla, AK
- Destination
- Z16 · Wasilla, AK
- Airport
- Z16 · Wasilla, runway 03, 3,700 × 75 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 100 total · 83 in this make and model · 8 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N78254 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.