- Date
- June 12, 2003, 11:40 local (17:40 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N7867NCessna R172E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 5, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Albuquerque FSDO
- FAA report
- 20030612012489A
- Case key
- 57209
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 student pilot's inadvertent encounter with the jet blast and the subsequent inability to maintain aircraft control.
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 was taxiing towards a taxiway intersection when the airplane began to be pushed left. The student pilot attempted to correct the drift by putting in right aileron, but the airplane continued to the left. The airplane tipped to the left and forward resting momentarily on its left wing tip, bending the wing spar rearward. After the event, the student pilot noticed an MD-80 to his right that had just pushed back from the gate and was beginning its taxi.
Factual narrative
On June 12, 2003, at approximately 1140 mountain daylight time, a Cessna R172E, N7867N, was substantially damaged when the left wing struck the asphalt taxiway following an encounter with a jet blast from an MD-80 while taxiing for takeoff at Albuquerque International Airport (ABQ), Albuquerque, New Mexico. The student pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. The United States Air Force, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country training flight that was originating at the time of the accident.
According to the student pilot, he had just finished opening his flight plan with Albuquerque Flight Service Station. He called ABQ Ground Control for taxi clearance and was instructed to taxi to Runway 8 and to follow an Air Tractor. The student pilot reported that after he crossed runway 35 and was approaching the taxiway intersection "A3," the airplane "began getting pushed to the left." The student pilot said he applied right aileron. The airplane continued to veer to the left. The student pilot stated he "applied additional right aileron" and "brakes." The airplane continued to roll, "resting momentarily on the left wingtip with the propeller striking the taxiway." An examination of the airplane revealed the left wing spar was bent aft. No other anomalies were found.
After the event, the student pilot noticed an American Airlines MD-80, flight 1712, to his right that had just pushed back from its gate, B1, and was beginning to taxi.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7867N
- Reported as
- Cessna R172E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R172-0258
- Airframe hours
- 14,366
- Engine
- Continental IO-360, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Kirtland Flight Center
- Registered owner
- United States Air Force
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 29, 2003 · 23 hours before
- Departed
- ABQ · Albuquerque, NM
- Destination
- SAF · Santa Fe, NM
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- ABQ · Albuquerque Intl
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 24
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 35 total · 35 in this make and model · 35 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- ABQ
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.