- Date
- March 2, 1992, 11:20 local (16:20 UTC)
- Place
- N Topsail Beach, NC
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N65988Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 24, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920302004829A
- Case key
- 8499
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 failure of the pilot to obtain and/or maintain adequate airspeed during takeoff, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and collision with the ground. Factors were: the failure of the pilot to follow procedures/directives, his operation of the aircraft with excessive gross weight, and his lack of total experience as a pilot.
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 newly certificated private pilot was taking 3 friends on a local pleasure flight. A witness reported that the airplane drifted soon after takeoff, narrowly cleared a fuel tank and trailer, and rolled off to the left. He stated that the engine was running normally until ground impact. The wreckage was found in a nearly vertical, nose down attitude, with the flaps up. The 90-hour pilot had logged only 5 hours in the C172. Post accident weight and balance calculations estimated the takeoff gross weight to be about 2474 pounds, the maximum allowable takeoff weight for this airplane was 2400.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65988
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17275939
- Airframe hours
- 3,733
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- I.S.O. Aero Services, Inc.
- Registered owner
- I.S.O. Aero Services, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 19, 1991 · 80 hours before
- Airport
- 54T · Topsail Island, runway 24, 2,600 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 19
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 90 total · 5 in this make and model · 53 as pilot in command · 34 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- OAJ, 22 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.