- Date
- January 4, 2001, 10:46 local (16:46 UTC)
- Place
- Sioux Falls, SD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N727SPCessna 172S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 9, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA - Rapid City FSDO
- FAA report
- 20010104037879A
- Case key
- 50912
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
Aircraft directional control not being maintained by the student pilot during the takeoff roll. Factors to the accident were the snow bank and the student pilot's lack of total experience.
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 student pilot lost directional control of the aircraft during a takeoff run while practicing solo touch-and-go landings. The pilot stated that after a successful landing he initiated a takeoff and, "as I added power the airplane seemed to shimmy at which time I tried to correct the plane. As I was unable to correct I powered back to idle and tried to stop which is when the plane went off the left side of the runway and hit a windrow of snow." The pilot reported, "Hitting the snow made the planes [plane's] tail lift and spin around which made the right wing hit the ground causing damage." The pilot stated that his total time in all aircraft was 24.1-hours and all hours were flown in the accident airplane make and model. The pilot reported that he had accumulated 1.4-hours of pilot-in-command time.
Factual narrative
On January 4, 2001, at 1046 central standard time, a Cessna 172S, N727SP, piloted by a student pilot, sustained substantial damage during an on-ground collision with the terrain following a loss of directional control during takeoff roll on runway 33 (6,670 feet by 150 feet, frost covered/asphalt), at the Joe Foss Field Airport, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The solo-instructional flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and was not on a flight plan. The student pilot, the sole occupant, reported no injuries. The local flight was departing at the time of the accident.
According to the pilot's written statement, he was practicing solo touch-and-go landings at the time of the accident. The pilot stated that after a successful landing he initiated a takeoff and, "as I added power the airplane seemed to shimmy at which time I tried to correct the plane. As I was unable to correct I powered back to idle and tried to stop which is when the plane went off the left side of the runway and hit a windrow of snow." The pilot reported, "Hitting the snow made the planes [plane's] tail lift and spin around which made the right wing hit the ground causing damage." The pilot reported that his total time in all aircraft was 24.1-hours and all hours were flown in the accident airplane make and model. The pilot reported that he had accumulated 1.4-hours of pilot-in-command time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N727SP
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8664
- Airframe hours
- 21
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Daedalus Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 4, 2000 · 19 hours before
- Departed
- FSD · Sioux Falls, SD
- Destination
- FSD · Sioux Falls, SD
- Airport
- FSD · Joe Foss Field, runway 33, 6,670 × 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
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 24 total · 24 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.78 inHg
- Observed at
- FSD
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.