- Date
- February 15, 2014, 10:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Mansfield, MA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2143XCessna 172S
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 1, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20140215000799A
- Case key
- 88813
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 an adequate approach glide path, which resulted in a collision with a snow bank.
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
According to the student pilot, during the solo flight while on final approach, he thought the airplane was on glidepath, but realized after the accident that the airplane was "low." Subsequently, the right main landing gear struck a snowbank at the end of the runway, which resulted in the right main landing gear being bent aft. The student pilot proceeded to land the airplane; however, upon landing it veered off the right side of the runway into another snowbank. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the student pilot, during the solo flight while on final approach, he thought the airplane was on glidepath, but realized after the accident that the airplane was "low." Subsequently, the right main landing gear struck a snowbank at the end of the runway, which resulted in the right main landing gear being bent aft. The student pilot proceeded to land the airplane; however, upon landing it veered off the right side of the runway into another snowbank. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2143X
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S9526
- Built
- 2003
- Airframe hours
- 7,124
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- King Aviation Mansfield
- Registered owner
- Easy Flyer Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 1B9 · Mansfield, MA
- Destination
- 1B9 · Mansfield, MA
- Airport
- 1B9 · Mansfield Muni, runway 14, 3,503 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 66 total · 66 in this make and model · 3 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.82 inHg
- Observed at
- TAN, 11 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 27, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.3 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.