- Date
- May 10, 1998, 11:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Georgetown, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N99570Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 30, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980510008629A
- Case key
- 20600
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
inadequate supervision by the flight instructor (CFI), by failing to ensure that the student obtained and/or maintained sufficient airspeed, which led to an inadvertent stall and collision with the terrain.
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
According to law enforcement personnel that responded to the accident site, the 18 hour student pilot was undergoing a phase check with his flight instructor (CFI). While demonstrating a soft field takeoff from runway 36, the student held the nose of the airplane in a very high attitude after the airplane lifted off. The CFI stated that 'the airspeed decayed rapidly and the airplane stalled.' He said that he took the controls 'too late to rescue the airplane.' Subsequent to the stall, the airplane touched down hard on one wheel and started to drift off the runway. The operator reported that the airplane came to rest in the infield area, approximately 65 feet from the runway. Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed that both wings, the fuselage, and the engine firewall had sustained structural damage.
Factual narrative
On May 10, 1998, at 1145 central daylight time, a Cessna 172P airplane, N99570, was substantially damaged following a loss of control during initial takeoff climb near Georgetown, Texas. The flight instructor and the student pilot were not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by I Can Aviation Inc., of Georgetown, Texas, under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local instructional flight for which no flight plan was filed. The flight departed from the Georgetown Municipal Airport approximately 30 minutes prior to the accident.
According to law enforcement personnel that responded to the accident site, the 18 hour student pilot was undergoing a phase check with his flight instructor. While demonstrating a soft field takeoff from runway 36, the student pilot held the nose of the airplane in a very high attitude after the airplane broke ground. The flight instructor stated that "the airspeed decayed rapidly and the airplane stalled." He added that he took the controls "too late to rescue the airplane."
Subsequent to the stall, the airplane landed hard on one wheel and started to drifted off the runway. The operator reported that the airplane came to rest in the infield area, approximately 65 feet from the runway.
Examination of the airplane by the FAA inspector revealed that both wings, the fuselage and the engine firewall sustained structural damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N99570
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172-76470
- Airframe hours
- 4,504
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Michael S. Zucker, doing business as I Can Aviation
- Registered owner
- Hamilton Enterprises, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 10, 1998 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- GTU
- Airport
- GTU · Georgetown Municipal, runway 36, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- Pilot
- Age
- 66
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 8,270 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 7,964 as pilot in command · 105 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.