- Date
- August 5, 2005, 10:50 local (14:50 UTC)
- Place
- Eustis, ME
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5924RCessna C-172G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 27, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050805017659A
- Case key
- 62160
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 clearance from a bush during the aborted landing.
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
The pilot landed the airplane about 500 - 600 feet beyond the threshold of the 1,800-foot runway, and then aborted the landing. As the airplane climbed through 15 feet above ground level, the pilot banked the airplane right, and the right wing contacted a bush. The airplane turned 180 degrees and impacted the ground substantially damaging the wings, engine mounts, and tail section.
Factual narrative
On August 5, 2005, about 1050 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172G, N5924R, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during an aborted landing at a private airstrip near Eustis, Maine. The certificated private pilot and passenger received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, which departed Swans Field Airport (3S2), Dixfield, Maine, about 1010.
According to the pilot's written statement, upon arriving in the airport area he observed the windsock in the "down position," and entered the traffic pattern. After the pilot turned the airplane onto the final leg of the approach, he noticed that the airplane was "slightly" high, and compensated with "flaps and [a] slight slip."
The airplane touched down about 500 to 600 feet beyond the threshold of the 1,800-foot runway. The airplane "floated" down the runway for a time, then the pilot elected to abort the landing. He turned off the carburetor heat, applied full power, accelerated the airplane to 60 mph, and "bled off" the flaps. As the airplane climbed through about 15 feet above ground level, the pilot banked the airplane to the right. The right wing contacted a bush about 60 feet beyond the end of the runway. The airplane pivoted 180 degrees, impacted the ground, and incurred substantial damage to the wings, engine mounts, and tail section.
The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5924R
- Reported as
- Cessna C-172G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17253593
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 3S2 · Dixfield, ME
- Destination
- NONE · Eustis, ME
- Airport
- NONE · Arkies Field (Private), runway 18
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 129 total · 86 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.