- Date
- April 22, 1985, 16:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Myers, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N739DACessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850422014099A
- Case key
- 31389
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
Plt stated that on takeoff ground run from a turf runway he felt severe vibration in the nose gear and lifted it off the ground. As he did he thought he felt a loss of engine power an aborted the takeoff. Before the aircraft could be stopped it overran the runway into the gulf of Mexico. Post crash inspection of the aircrafts nose gear and engine revealed no evidence of precrash mechanical failure or malfunction. The airport operator stated that the winds were out of the west at the time of the accident and that the flight departed to east. Wind were approximately 10 knots, and this would have given the flight a 10 knot tailwind at departure. Proper softfield takeoff technique was not used.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N739DA
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17270450
- Airframe hours
- 1,694
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Douglas R. Reich
- Registered owner
- First Flight Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 2, 1985 · 18 hours before
- Destination
- FMY · Fort Myers, FL
- Airport
- 4X2 · Seair, runway 9, 2,200 × 65 ft, grass/turf
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 108 total · 108 in this make and model · 28 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,100 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMY, 15 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.