- Date
- January 31, 2001, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sunfield, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6448VCessna 172RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 23, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20010131004539A
- Case key
- 51942
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 inadequate preflight preparation and the unsuitable terrain for takeoff encountered. Factors included the slushy runway and the snowbank.
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 the airplane was substantially damaged during takeoff when the left main gear encountered slushy snow that pulled the airplane to the left into a snowbank along the left side of the runway. The pilot reported the airplane was pulled into the deeper snow and the airplane went up on its nose and right wingtip.
Factual narrative
On January 31, 2001, at 1300 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172RG, N6448V, was substantially damaged during takeoff when the left main gear encountered slush on the runway and the airplane hit a snowbank on the left side of the runway and tipped up on the right wing. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was departing from runway 27 (3,000 feet by 50 feet, grass, wet) at the Frank Voshell private airstrip near Sunfield, Michigan, with the Hastings Airport (9D9), Hastings, Michigan, as the final destination. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported, "...the left main gear encountered slushy snow, pulling the plane to the left into a snowbank along left side of runway, pulling the plane into the deeper snow, tipping the plane down and to the right damaging the prop and right wing tip."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6448V
- Reported as
- Cessna 172RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172RG0709
- Airframe hours
- 2,576
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-F1A6, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Daniel Hamilton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 14, 2001 · 0 hours before
- Departed
- Sunfield
- Destination
- 9D9 · Hastings, MI
- Airport
- Frank Voshell, runway 27, 3,000 × 50 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
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- March 6, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 800 total · 630 in this make and model · 784 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 18 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.65 inHg
- Observed at
- LAN, 18 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.