- Date
- August 3, 2004, 14:55 local (18:55 UTC)
- Place
- Cooperstown, NY
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N7957UCessna 172F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 7, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20040803035649A
- Case key
- 59817
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 adequate airspeed and her premature rotation which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush and subsequent impact with the ground.
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
During the takeoff roll, the airplane veered sharply to the left. The pilot applied right rudder to realign the airplane on the centerline, and when the airplane did not respond, she "instinctively" pulled back on the controls to lift the airplane off the runway. Because the airplane "lacked adequate airspeed," immediately after rotation, it descended, and impacted the ground. The pilot stated that the correct action, "to pull the power back" and abort the takeoff, did not occur to her until it was too late. No mechanical deficiencies were observed with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On August 3, 2004, at 1455 eastern daylight time, N7957U, a Cessna 172F, was substantially damaged when it impacted the runway, during takeoff from the Cooperstown-Westville Airport (K23), Cooperstown, New York. The certificated commercial pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, she initiated the takeoff from runway 20 (a 2,600-foot long, 125-ft. wide turf runway), and during the takeoff roll, the airplane veered sharply to the left. She applied right rudder to realign the airplane on the centerline, and when "nothing changed," she "responded instinctively" and pulled back on the controls to lift the airplane off the runway. Because the airplane "lacked adequate airspeed," immediately after rotation, it descended, and impacted the ground.
The pilot additionally stated that the correct action, to "pull the power back" and abort the takeoff, did not occur to her until it was too late.
Examination of the airplane by the FAA inspector revealed substantial damage to the empennage of the airplane. No mechanical deficiencies were observed.
The winds reported at an airport approximately 38 miles to the northwest, at 1456, were from 260 degrees at 3 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7957U
- Reported as
- Cessna 172F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17251957
- Engine
- Continental O-300, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Norma Hutman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- K23 · Cooperstown, NY
- Destination
- K23
- Airport
- K23 · Cooperstown-Westville Airport, runway 20, 2,600 × 125 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
- 69
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- June 20, 2004
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,000 total · 3,500 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- UCA, 38 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.
Other investigations on N7957U · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.