- Date
- March 15, 2013, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Hendersonville, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N61756Cessna 172M
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 18, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20130315004249A
- Case key
- 86434
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 failure to maintain control of the airplane during an attempted go-around in gusty tailwind conditions.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The student pilot stated that, during an attempted landing on runway 14, he “could not get the plane to settle on the ground.” About halfway down the runway, the airplane “ballooned,” and the student pilot elected to perform a go-around. He applied full engine power and decreased the flap setting in an attempt to gain altitude, but the airplane impacted power lines off the left side of the runway and came to rest on top of a hangar, resulting in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Reported wind at an airport 9 miles to the northwest of the accident location, about the time of the accident, was from 250 degrees at 10 knots, gusting to 18 knots.
Factual narrative
The student pilot stated that, during landing on runway 14, a 2,400-foot-long, 100-foot-wide turf runway, he “could not get the plane to settle on the ground.” Approximately halfway down the runway, the airplane “ballooned,” and the student pilot elected to perform a go-around. He applied full engine power and decreased the flap setting in an attempt to gain altitude, but the airplane impacted power lines off the left side of the runway and came to rest on top of a hangar, resulting in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Reported wind at an airport 9 miles to the northwest of the accident location, about the time of the accident, was from 250 degrees at 10 knots gusting to 18 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N61756
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17264778
- Airframe hours
- 7,800
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Blue Ridge Sport Flight LLC
- Registered owner
- Blue Ridge Sport Flight LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 2013
- Departed
- AND · Anderson, SC
- Destination
- 8NC9 · Hendersonville, NC
- Airport
- 8NC9 · W.N.C. Air Museum Airport, runway 14, 2,400 × 100 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 35
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 40 total · 26 in this make and model · 5 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 10 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- AVL, 9 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 10, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.6 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.