- Date
- January 5, 1991, 16:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N4468LCessna 172G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 24, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19910105000229A
- Case key
- 5477
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
Pilot's not removing the frost from the airplane before attempting to takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's delayed abort, and the berm.
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 private pilot attempted to takeoff with frost on the upper surfaces. When he realized the airplane was not going to fly before reaching the end of the runway, he aborted the takeoff and steered it off the runway and into a snowberm. He said he thought the runway was about 2,000 feet long. FAA records show it to be 1,250 feet long.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4468L
- Reported as
- Cessna 172G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172-54563
- Airframe hours
- 2,000
- Engine
- Continental O-300D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Larry M. Driskill
- Registered owner
- Larry M. Driskill
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 30, 1990
- Destination
- MRI · Anchorage, AK
- Airport
- Z96 · Philos, runway 3, 1,250 × 30 ft, snow
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 470 in this make and model · 464 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 60 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.