- Date
- August 14, 2002, 19:25 local (23:25 UTC)
- Place
- Sangerville, ME
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N56BCCessna 172G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20020814038609A
- Case key
- 55488
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 airspeed during a go-around, which resulted in an inadvertent stall.
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 made an approach to a private airstrip, but felt he would land too long. He initiated a go-around, but the airplane stalled and subsequently impacted the ground between two trees. The airplane came to rest nose-down, with the tail sticking up almost vertically.
Factual narrative
On August 14, 2002, at 1925 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172, N56BC, was substantially damaged when it impacted the ground during a go-around attempt at a private airstrip in Sangerville, Maine. The certificated private pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan had been filed for the flight, between Concord Municipal Airport (CON), Concord, New Hampshire, and Sangerville. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, his approach to the airstrip was "normal at 65-70 mph." The pilot thought he was going to land too long, so he "attempted a go-around with insufficient altitude and airspeed."
Photographs from the accident scene revealed that the airplane came to rest nose-down, between two trees, with the tail sticking up almost vertically. There was leading edge crush to both wings, the flaps appeared to be up, and the carburetor heat appeared to be activated.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N56BC
- Reported as
- Cessna 172G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17254049
- Airframe hours
- 2,950
- Engine
- Continental O-300, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jack F. Bastian
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 2, 2002 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- CON · Concord, NH
- Destination
- NONE · Sangerville, ME
- Airport
- NONE · Private Airstrip, runway 35, 2,200 × 80 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
- 68
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- May 1, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,395 total · 551 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- MLT
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.