- Date
- August 5, 2002, 02:55 local (06:55 UTC)
- Place
- Dahlonega, GA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8954VCessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report April 1, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Atlanta FSDO-11
- FAA report
- 20020805020179A
- Case key
- 55372
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing and failure to maintain directional control resulting in the airplane going off the left side of the runway and colliding with a ditch.
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 pilot stated he touched down on the left side of the runway and the airplane bounced. He lost directional control of the airplane and it went off the left side of the runway and collided with a ditch sustaining damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot stated he did not experience any deficiencies with the airplane before the accident.
Factual narrative
On August 5, 2002, about 0255 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172M, N8954V, registered to Blue Ridge Mountain Flyers Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, veered off the runway and collided with a ditch during a landing at Lumpkin County-Wimpys Airport, Dahlonega, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and three passengers reported no injuries. The flight originated from Habersham County Airport, Cornelia, Georgia, at 02:45.
The pilot stated the airplane touched down on the left side of the runway and bounced. He lost directional control of the airplane and it went off the left side of the runway into the grass. The airplane went into a ditch where both wings and the fuselage sustained buckling and warping damage. The pilot stated he did not experience any deficiencies with the airplane before the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8954V
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17264310
- Airframe hours
- 8,077
- Engine
- Lycoming O-329-E-2-D, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Paul A. Bennett
- Registered owner
- Blue Ridge Mountain Flyers Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 20, 2002 · 13 hours before
- Departed
- AJR · Cornelia, GA
- Airport
- 9AO · Lumpkin County-Wimpys, runway 15, 3,035 × 50 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
- 32
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 76 total · 76 in this make and model · 18 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 100° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- GVL, 17 nm away
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 N8954V · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.