- Date
- July 20, 1989, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ridgeland, SC
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4254LCessna 172G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 15, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890720026329A
- Case key
- 7907
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
Improper planning/decision by the pilot-in-command (PIC), which resulted in an inadvertent stall during takeoff. Factors related to the accident were: the excessive gross weight and improper lift-off by the PIC, the pilot/passenger's improper crew coordination regarding the specific instructions that he received concerning the payload limitations, and the high density altitude.
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
Two plts were seated at the controls. The right front seat plt had rented the acft; he had 59 hrs total flt time, of which, 3 hrs was in the Cessna 172. The left front seat plt (normal psn for the PIC) had 120 hrs of flt time, of which, 52 hrs was in the Cessna 172. Before renting the acft, the right front seat plt was told of the acft's limited payload & rwy length requirements due to the auxiliary fuel capacity. The acft had been refueled to its capacity at the en route arpt. During takeoff from the 3100 ft rwy, the acft lifted off, settled back onto rwy & lifted off again. The acft climbed with a steep nose high attitude to about 200 to 250 ft, then it entered a steep dscnt & crashed. The wind was rprtd to be aligned with the rwy at 10 KTS & the temp was about 90 deg. The acft was estd to have been loaded about 120 lbs over its max wt limit. No preimpact part failure or malfunction of the acft was found. Density alt was aprx 2100 ft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4254L
- Reported as
- Cessna 172G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17254323
- Airframe hours
- 2,212
- Engine
- Continental O-300-D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gordon Air Services
- Registered owner
- Dawn Jones
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 11, 1989 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- 3J1
- Destination
- TMB · Miami, FL
- Airport
- 3J1 · Ridgeland, runway 21, 3,100 × 70 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
- 24
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 120 total · 52 in this make and model · 66 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- NBC, 18 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.