- Date
- August 4, 2002, 13:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sidney, NE
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N739VNCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 6, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA-Lincoln, Nebraska-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20020804027679A
- Case key
- 55463
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 not maintaining sufficient airspeed during the takeoff, and the inadvertent stall encountered by the pilot. The low altitude was a factor.
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 airplane was damaged when it impacted the runway during takeoff. The pilot stated that he lifted off at 65 knots airspeed and started to climb. He stated that when he had climbed to an altitude of about 50 feet above the ground, the airplane, "went into a stall [and] settled back to [the] runway striking [the] left wing." In the report, the pilot listed no mechanical failure of the airplane. No preexisting anomalies were found during a postaccident examination of the airplane.
Factual narrative
On August 4, 2002, at 1300 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N739VN, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage when it impacted the runway during takeoff from runway 30 (6,600 feet by 100 feet, concrete), at the Sidney Municipal Airport, Sidney, Nebraska. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. There were no injuries to the pilot, or his three passengers. The flight was originating at the time of the accident with an intended destination of Ft. Collins, Colorado.
In his written report, the pilot stated that he lifted off at 65 knots airspeed and started to climb. He stated that when he had climbed to an altitude of about 50 feet above the ground, the airplane, "went into a stall [and] settled back to [the] runway striking [the] left wing." In the report, the pilot listed no mechanical failure of the airplane.
No preexisting anomalies were found during a postaccident examination of the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N739VN
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17270842
- Airframe hours
- 7,793
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Aspen Flight Center, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 12, 2002
- Departed
- SNY · Sidney, NE
- Destination
- FNL · Fort Collins, CO
- Airport
- SNY · Sidney Municipal, runway 30, 6,600 × 100 ft, concrete
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
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- November 20, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 354 total · 195 in this make and model · 291 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 7 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- SNY
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 N739VN · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.