- Date
- June 14, 2017, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Galena, ID
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N9912QCessna 172
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Abrupt maneuver
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 10, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20170614005359A
- Case key
- 95376
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 exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in a power-on stall and subsequent loss of airplane control.
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 pilot reported that he was attempting to perform a crosswind, soft-field takeoff from a dry, turf airstrip. He set the flaps to 10°, and the airplane was in a nose-high attitude until the stall warning horn sounded. He then relaxed pressure on the yoke until the stall warning horn stopped. Shortly after liftoff, the airplane entered a power-on stall, and the pilot lost airplane control, and the airplane then began to descend to the runway. The airplane subsequently departed the runway and impacted a barbed wire fence. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing strut. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot in the airplane reported that he attempted to perform a crosswind, soft-field take off from a dry turf airstrip. The pilot configured the airplane with full throttle application, flaps 10°, and a nose high attitude until the stall warning horn sounded. He then relaxed pressure on the yoke until the stall warning horn subsided. Shortly after rotation the airplane entered a power-on stall and the pilot lost directional control of the airplane. The airplane impacted a barbed wire fence and sustained substantial damage to the right wing strut. Per the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot Aircraft Accident Report, the pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented, if he had received instruction from a Federal Aviation Administration Certificated Flight Instructor that was specific to the accident airplane, specifically for a soft-field takeoff because each individual aircraft has nuances that can affect the operation. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9912Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (M)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17265856
- Built
- 1975
- Airframe hours
- 9,660.5
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ponderosa Aero Club
- Registered owner
- Andy Patrick
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 2, 2017
- Departed
- KBOI · Boise, ID
- Destination
- U87 · Smiley Creek, ID
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- U87 · Smiley Creek, runway 32, 4,900 × 150 ft, grass/turf
- 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 24, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 369 total · 150 in this make and model · 327 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- KSNT, 17 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 1, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.5 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.
Other investigations on N9912Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.