- Date
- July 25, 2003, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Plainfield, CT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N62152Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20030725017859A
- Case key
- 57568
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 directional control, which resulted in a collision with a ditch. A factor in this accident was the crosswind condition.
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 student pilot was landing on runway 02, 3,612-foot-long, 75-foot-wide, asphalt runway. He reported a crosswind of about 90 degrees from the left, with winds at 8 to 10 knots. After touchdown, the airplane veered off the right side of the runway, struck a ditch and came to rest inverted. The pilot did not report and mechanical malfunctions. A nearby airport reported the winds from 280 degrees at 10 knots.
Factual narrative
On July 25, 2003, about 1300 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N62152, was substantially damaged while landing at Robertson Field, Plainville, Connecticut. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the solo instructional flight. No flight plan had been filed for the flight that originated from Groton, Connecticut, and was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot's written statement:
"I was approaching to land at Robertson Field on runway 2 with a slight crosswind. I touched down gently in the center of the runway, then immediately began to skid to my right. The plane was mostly on the left main wheel while skidding. I then hit the grass which turned me into the ditch and the airplane flipped over, landing upside down in the ditch...."
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who visited the accident site reported that skid marks were visible on the runway. The marks started about 1/3 of the way down the runway, and over a distance of about 250 to 300 feet, veered to the right and departed the runway. The airplane came to rest beyond where the skid marks departed the runway.
In an interview with an FAA inspector, the pilot reported that he was returning from a solo cross-country flight. Upon arrival at Plainville, the winds were a crosswind from the left, near 90 degrees, at 8 to 10 knots.
The pilot stated he did not experience any mechanical malfunctions.
The 1251 weather observation from Bradley Field (BDL), Windsor Locks, Connecticut, which was located 16.6 nautical miles northeast of the accident site, reported that the winds were from 280 degrees at 10 knots.
According to data from the FAA, runway 02 was 3,612 feet long, and 75 feet wide, with an asphalt surface.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N62152
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172P75221
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Interstate Aviation
- Registered owner
- Christopher D. Baylor
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- GON · Groton, CT
- Destination
- 4B8 · Plainfield
- Airport
- 4B8 · Robertson Field, runway 02
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
- 18
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1
- Flight hours
- 35 total · 35 in this make and model · 9 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
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.