- Date
- August 29, 2004, 11:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Warrenton, VA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2975XCessna 177
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20040829035459A
- Case key
- 60000
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 incorrect aborted landing procedure, which resulted in a collision with terrain.
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
While on final approach, the airplane was too low, and the pilot increased engine power to correct. However, the pilot overcorrected, and the airplane landed long. The pilot then attempted to abort the landing by adding full power, and fully retracting the flaps. During the attempt, the airplane's empennage struck an embankment, separated, and the airplane came to rest upright at the departure end of the runway. Review of an owner's manual for the make and model airplane revealed that the flaps should have been retracted half-way during an aborted landing.
Factual narrative
On August 29, 2004, about 1115 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 177, N2975X, was substantially damaged while landing at Warrenton-Fauquier Airport (W66), Warrenton, Virginia. The certificated private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed Shannon Airport (EZF), Fredericksburg, Virginia. No flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot stated that he flew a traffic pattern approach for runway 14; a 4,103-foot-long, 60-foot-wide, asphalt runway. While on final approach, the airplane was too low, and the pilot increased engine power to correct. The pilot further stated that he overcorrected, crossed the threshold high, and landed long. The pilot then attempted to abort the landing by adding full power, and fully retracting the flaps. During the attempt, the airplane's empennage struck an embankment, separated, and the airplane came to rest upright at the departure end of the runway.
Review of a Cessna 177 Owner's Manual revealed:
"Balked Landing (Go-Around)...
Wing Flaps - Retract to 1/2."
The reported wind at an airport approximately 12 miles northeast of the accident site, at 1055, was from 210 degrees at 5 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2975X
- Reported as
- Cessna 177
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17700375
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gordon C. Alling
- Registered owner
- Cardinal Four Ltd.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- EZF · Fredricksburg, VA
- Destination
- W66 · Warrenton, VA
- Airport
- W66 · Warrenton-Fauquier Airport, runway 14, 4,106 × 60 ft, asphalt
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
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 392 total · 10 in this make and model · 327 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 5 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- HEF, 12 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.