CHI01LA036

The student pilot said that right after liftoff he noticed his airspeed was "falling." He said that he looked at his tachometer and saw that it "was running at 2,500 rpm's." The student pilot leveled off but saw his airspeed continue to drop. He also noted that his tachometer read 2,100 rpm's. The student pilot put the airplane back down on the runway. The airplane went off the left side of the runway, struck a runway light, continued through a field, struck a road sign, and continued through another field until reaching a ditch, on which the airplane nosed over. The student pilot said that when the airplane hit the sign, he "lost rudder control and pulled power." An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies.

On November 15, 2000, at 1500 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172H, operated by a student pilot, sustained substantial damage during an aborted takeoff when it departed the left edge of runway 10 (3,800 feet by 150 feet, dry asphalt) at Kalkaska Airport (Y89), Kalkaska, Michigan, struck a runway light, a sign, and a ditch, and nosed at the edge of a wooded area. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The student pilot sustained minor injuries. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.

In his written statement, the student pilot said that right after liftoff he noticed his airspeed was "falling." He said that he looked at his tachometer and saw that it "was running at 2,500 rpm's. I leveled off to build airspeed, scanned my gauges. [The] Airspeed indicator [was] still falling. Tach[ometer indication] fell below 2,100 rpm's. I put [the] plane back on the ground, hit [a] runway lite (light) and a[n] end marker. Hit fence post with [the] tail section, lost rudder control, [and] pulled power." The student pilot said that the airplane slid across a cleared area until the nose fell into a ditch where the airplane flipped over.

Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the airplane at the accident site. The airplane was resting inverted at the edge of a wooded area, approximately 1,160 feet from the departure end of runway 10. Two sets of tire tracks were observed in the snow beginning at approximately 400 feet prior to the departure end of runway 10. The tire marks proceeded off the left edge of the runway, across the field paralleling the runway, crossed the edge of the asphalt turn-out for runway 28, and proceeded eastward to a north-south running perimeter road, approximately 440 feet off the departure end of runway 10. Three sets of tire marks were observed beginning at the east side of the road and continuing across a field to the airplane. A portion of the airplane's left horizontal stabilizer and the left elevator rested on the road. A sign on the west edge of the road was bent over and twisted. The airplane's nose gear was broken aft. The bottom of the engine cowling and the bottom forward fuselage were crushed upward. The propeller showed torsional bending, chordwise scratching, and tip curling. The airplane's left wing was bent downward beginning at the root. The left wing strut was bent inward at mid-span. The airplane's right wing showed bends and skin wrinkles. The airplane's aft fuselage skin was bent and wrinkled. The remaining outboard portion of the airplane's left horizontal stabilizer was broken aft. Flight control continuity was confirmed. A post-accident examination of the airplane's engine and engine controls revealed no anomalies. A Safety Board examination of the airplane's airspeed indicator was conducted on February 21, 2001, at Chicago, Illinois. The examination revealed no anomalies with the airspeed indicator.