# NTSB ERA23LA031: Cessna 172P, N63663, Elizabethtown, KY, October 15, 2022 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: October 15, 2022, 01:00 local (05:00 UTC) - Place: Elizabethtown, KY - Coordinates: 37.687774, -85.925779 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.6878&lon=-85.9258&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Taxi](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/250) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Taxi-from runway: Navigation error](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/280) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - 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 - NTSB case key (mKey): 106171 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA23LA031 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/106171/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=106171 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA23LA031 ## Probable cause The pilot's decision to continue the taxi without visual reference to the surface, due to his vision being impaired by darkness and glare, which resulted in the airplane’s departure from the paved surface and impact with a ditch. Contributing was the flight instructor’s inadequate monitoring of the pilot. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Info processing/decision: decision making/judgment](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 20 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 3,098 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md) - [Light condition: dark](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03036020): Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena · Effect on personnel (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03036020/cases.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 448 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03036020/cases.md) - [Light condition: glare](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03036030): Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena · Effect on personnel (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03036030/cases.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 109 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03036030/cases.md) - [Attention/monitoring: monitoring other person](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021535): Personnel issues › Psychological · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 4 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021535/cases.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 200 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021535/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Taxi-from runway: Navigation error](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/280) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/280/sequence.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 21 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/280/sequence.md) ## Analysis The private pilot and flight instructor were performing a cross-country instrument flight rules training flight at night, and while enroute, diverted from their planned destination to a non-towered airport to refuel. After landing at the diversion airport, the pilot attempted to navigate via taxiways toward the ramp environment. As the taxi progressed toward the ramp, the blue taxiway edge lights ended, and a “significant glare” from the hangar lights directly ahead obscured the pilot’s forward view through the dirty windscreen. Believing that they had entered the ramp area, the pilot turned toward the fueling area, but the airplane then departed the paved surface onto grass and slid into a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact anomalies or malfunctions affecting the airplane’s operation. Had the pilot and flight instructor elected to discontinue taxiing the airplane after losing sight of the ground ahead due to the darkness and glare, it is likely that the accident would not have occurred. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N63663](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N63663), registered now, S/N 17275465, built 1981 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 172P - Registry model: [Cessna 172P](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172p) (registry code 2072436) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (registry code 41508, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 17275465 - Year built: 1981 - Airframe hours: 8846.1 - Engines: Lycoming O-320-D2J 160 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Instructional, Part 91 - Operator: Tennessee Flyers, Inc - Registered owner: Lake Aviation LLC - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, May 25, 2022 - Departed: 2I6, Springfield, KY - Destination: Same as departure - Flight plan: IFR - Airport: EKX, Addington Fld, runway 23, 6,001 × 100 ft, concrete - Equipment: Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Stall warning system, ADS-B ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 47; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: basicmed; last flight review January 19, 2022; seat: left; restraint: 3-point; flight hours: 202.8 total, 132.4 in this make and model, 168.6 as pilot in command, 36.3 in the last 90 days, 5.1 in the last 30 days, 5.1 in the last 24 hours - Flight instructor; age 20; injuries: none; commercial, flight instructor; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; last flight review February 1, 2021; seat: right; restraint: 3-point; flight hours: 745.9 total, 185.6 in this make and model, 654.9 as pilot in command, 83.4 in the last 90 days, 32.9 in the last 30 days, 5.1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Night - Wind: 200° at 9 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 59 °F, dew point 36 °F - Altimeter: 29.82 inHg - Observed at: EKX - METAR: KEKX 150455Z AUTO 20009KT 10SM CLR 15/02 A2982 RMK AO2 T01480018 ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20221015017939A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20221015017939A), Oct 15, 2022: Cessna 172P, Elizabethtown, KY, Minor damage. In a statement from the PIC, "we canceled IFR in the air once we had the airport in sight, landed on runway 23 and exited on The third taxiway past the… ## Docket (3 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 6, 2023, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=106171. 4.1 MB in all. - Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 11 pages, 2.3 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=14820021&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=6120-print_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Pilot's statement (item 2, PDF, 2 pages, 223 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=14817572&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Memorandum%20Of%20Record%20Color%20Pilot-Rel.pdf - Investigative photographs (item 3, PDF, 7 pages, 1.6 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=14942244&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Photo%20Array%20Template-Rel.pdf From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.