- Date
- November 24, 2020, 16:07 local (21:07 UTC)
- Place
- Manville, NJ · AC struck trees on final approach
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N23NJCessna 172
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20201124018429A
- Case key
- 102339
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’s failure to maintain a proper glidepath while on approach to the runway, and the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action, which resulted in the airplane colliding with a tree on final approach.
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
As the flight instructor and the private pilot approached the runway for landing, the flight instructor told the pilot the airplane was getting too low and that he needed to add power “more than once.” When the pilot did not add sufficient power to correct the descent, she attempted to add it herself, but it was too late, and the airplane’s left wing stuck the tree. The airplane then struck the ground short of the runway, continued forward until it reached the runway lip, and then nosed over. The airplane’s left wing and the fuselage were substantially damaged. The operator reported there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N23NJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (N)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17273230
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 6,055
- Engine
- Lycoming O360-A4M, 180 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Civil Air Patrol
- Registered owner
- Civil Air Patrol
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 1, 2019 · 77.2 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 47N · Central Jersey Regional Airport, runway 7, 3,507 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Satellite tracking device
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 73
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 18, 2020
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3,452 total · 371 in this make and model
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 70
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 30, 2018
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,102 total · 220 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.33 inHg
- Observed at
- KSMQ, 7 nm away
- METAR
- KSMQ 242053Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 08/M03 A3033 RMK AO2 SLP272 T00831033 53006
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 16, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 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.