- Date
- November 13, 1998, 16:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Prescott, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2401ECessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 3, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981113034739A
- Case key
- 45325
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 failure of the flight instructor to provide adequate supervision of the student pilot during a simulated emergency 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 flight instructor and student pilot were conducting a simulated engine failure from approximately 3,500 feet agl. The student inadvertently shut the fuel selector off without the instructor noticing. About 500 feet agl, the instructor asked the student to do a go-around. There was no response when full throttle was applied, so the instructor took the controls and performed an emergency landing. The left landing gear hit a tree stump and was sheared off. The aircraft came to rest in an upright position.
Factual narrative
On November 13, 1998, at 1600 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 172N, N2401E, force landed in rough terrain 15 miles west of Prescott, Arizona, following a loss of engine power. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor and dual student, the sole occupants, were not injured. The local instructional flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 and originated at the Prescott Airport at 1510. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
The flight instructor reported that he and the student were conducting a simulated engine failure from approximately 3,500 feet agl. He reported that the student inadvertently shut the fuel selector off without him noticing. About 500 feet agl, the flight instructor asked the student to do a go-around. There was no response when full throttle was applied, so the instructor took the controls and performed an emergency landing. The left landing gear hit a tree stump and was sheared off. The aircraft came to rest in an upright position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2401E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17271268
- Airframe hours
- 3,306
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Embry-Riddle Aero. University
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · November 5, 1998 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- PRC · AZ
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
- 42
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Flight engineer, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,090 total · 880 in this make and model · 980 as pilot in command · 161 in the last 90 days · 96 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 65 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
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 N2401E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.