- Date
- July 10, 1990, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Northport, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N20126Cessna C177B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900710024759A
- Case key
- 14706
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
Pilot's delayed decision to abort the landing, and the aircraft's resultant inadequate clearance/altitude and impact with trees.
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 stated that he landed long and fast on a short, grass runway with a slight downslope. He decided he 'wouldn't get stopped before hitting an earthwork dam (located) north of the runway end.' He attempted to go-around, but was unable to clear some trees in the wooded area off the departure end of the runway. The aircraft came to rest, nose up, in the heavily wooded area. The pilot stated that 'an earlier decision to abort would have avoided the accident.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N20126
- Reported as
- Cessna C177B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17702632
- Airframe hours
- 526
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1FD, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Lanham, Theodore J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 3, 1990 · 17 hours before
- Departed
- TVC · Traverse City, MI
- Airport
- 5D5 · Woolsey Memorial, runway 34, 2,650 × 140 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
- 64
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 878 total · 17 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TVC, 26 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.