- Date
- May 27, 1991, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Huntsville, AL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N19823Cessna 177B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 24, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910527020289A
- Case key
- 8410
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 failure to remove the control lock prior to attempting flight and his failure to follow the 'before takeoff' checklist. A factor in the accident was the pilot's diverted attention.
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 reported that after shutdown a bolt was used as a flight control lock on the yoke. It was not flagged. The flagged control lock pin had previously been misplaced. When he returned to the airplane on Monday he failed to remove the bolt during the preflight inspection. He taxied to the runup area & noted the attitude indicator had not erected. He skipped to the engine runup on the checklist & failed to check the flight controls. During the takeoff the bolt was remembered. He tried to remove the bolt, the acft lifted off, he retarded the throttle. The nose pitched down & the airplane hit the rwy nose gear first.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N19823
- Reported as
- Cessna 177B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17702604
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1F6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Young, Roy M
- Destination
- ABY · Albany, GA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- HSV · Huntsville International, runway 36, 8,000 × 150 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
- 61
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 3,043 total · 500 in this make and model · 2,868 as pilot in command · 87 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HSV, 1 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.