# NTSB LAX05LA286: Cessna 172, N5070A, Yuma, AZ, September 2, 2005 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: September 2, 2005, 08:30 local (15:30 UTC) - Place: Yuma, AZ - Coordinates: 32.656387, -114.605834 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.6564&lon=-114.6058&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal, 1 serious - Status: Completed, report May 30, 2006 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 62382 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=LAX05LA286 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/62382/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX05LA286 ## Probable cause the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed on short final, which resulted in an inadvertent stall. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - in flight, approach - vfr pattern - final approach - airspeed - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - stall - inadvertent, pilot in command - In flight collision with terrain/water, descent - uncontrolled - terrain condition - ground ## Analysis The airplane stalled on short final and impacted the runway's displaced threshold in a nose low pitch attitude and erupted in flames. The pilot was flying the airplane from the right seat, with a passenger occupying the left seat in order to take some aerial photographs of nearby property. The airplane was on final approach and the pilot was conducting a full-flap landing. He reported that everything was fine, but the airplane began descending too fast. He applied some power to go-around, but the airplane encountered a gust of wind and stalled on short final. Witnesses at the airport observed the airplane on short final. The nose pitched up to a level position about 50 feet above the ground and then nosed down until impact with the ground. The weather observation facility at the airport was reporting the wind at 7 knots down the runway. The airplane was not equipped with shoulder harnesses. ## Factual narrative On September 2, 2005, at 0830 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172 airplane, N5070A, was destroyed when it impacted the displaced threshold for runway 8 at the Yuma International Airport, Yuma, Arizona. The private pilot/owner of the airplane sustained serious injuries and the passenger was fatally injured. The pilot operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the local flight that departed Yuma around 0715. During a telephone interview with the pilot, he reported that the purpose of the flight was to photograph some private property of his that was for sale. The passenger was seated in the left seat to photograph the property and the pilot was flying from the right seat. They finished taking photographs of the property and were returning to the airport when the accident occurred. The airplane was on final approach and the pilot was conducting a full-flap landing. He reported that everything was fine, but the airplane began descending too fast. He applied some power to go-around, but the airplane encountered a gust of wind and stalled on short final. Witnesses informed the Federal Aviation Administrator inspector who responded to the accident site that they observed the airplane on short final. The nose pitched up to a level position about 50 feet above the ground and then nosed down until impact with the ground. Photographs taken of the accident site by airport operations personnel displayed tire marks on the displaced threshold followed by parallel gouges in the asphalt that were perpendicular to the airplane's direction of travel. The airplane came to rest upright about 80 yards from the initial impact point and erupted into flames. The center fuselage was burnt in its entirety and the wings were bent down and the tips were touching the ground. The floorboard behind the front seats was bent up and the aft fuselage and empennage were lying on the ground. At 0856, the weather observation facility at the Yuma International Airport reported the wind from 080 degrees at 7 knots. The airplane, which underwent its last annual inspection 22 hours prior to the accident (October 01, 2004), was not equipped with shoulder harnesses. The pilot reported having accumulated a total of 800 flight hours, of which 640 hours were accumulated in the accident airplane. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N5070A](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N5070A-2007-04-04), registration cancelled 2007-04-04, S/N 28070, built 1955 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 172 - Registry model: [Cessna 172](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172) (registry code 2072402) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental 0-300 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-300-series) (registry code 17022, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 28070 - Airframe hours: 3013 - Engines: Continental O-300-A 145 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Destroyed - Fire: On-Ground - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Gilberto Garza - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, October 1, 2004, 22 hours before - Departed: YUM, Yuma, AZ - Airport: YUM, Yuma International Airport, runway 8, 6,146 × 150 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 55; injuries: serious; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; last flight review March 1, 2005; seat: right; flight hours: 800 total, 640 in this make and model, 740 as pilot in command, 10 in the last 90 days, 3 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 80° at 7 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 93 °F, dew point 63 °F - Altimeter: 29.81 inHg - Observed at: YUM ## 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 20050902022579A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20050902022579A), Sep 2, 2005: Cessna 172, Yuma, AZ, Destroyed, 1 fatal. (-23) The aircraft was returning from an aerial photography flight. The pilot was seated in the right front seat and the non-pilot passenger was seated in the… 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.