- Date
- August 7, 2022, 15:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- McCarthy, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N171QCessna 172
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Windshear or thunderstorm
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220807014219A
- Case key
- 105715
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 maintain control of the airplane during takeoff in turbulent weather conditions.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that the off-field takeoff from sloping tundra, on top of a mesa, was uneventful. The left wing stalled in turbulent air, as the airplane was building airspeed to climb, and then the left wing struck the ground. The airplane cartwheeled onto the nose and came to rest about 200 yards downslope from the top of the mesa. The left wing, empennage, and fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N171Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28197
- Built
- 1956
- Airframe hours
- 5,121
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 22, 2021
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Stall warning system
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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,222 total · 1,405 in this make and model · 120 in the last 90 days · 47 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 12 knots, gusting 20
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 60 °F
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 2, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.2 MB in all.
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 N171Q · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.