- Date
- April 16, 2005, 10:52 local (14:52 UTC)
- Place
- Collegeville, PA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N7653XCessna 172B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 7, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20050416005269A
- Case key
- 61322
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 inadvertent encounter with a downdraft, which resulted in a collision with trees. A factor related to the accident was the downdraft wind conditions.
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
As the airplane crossed over a treeline on final approach to the runway, it encountered a sudden downdraft. The airplane then began to descend, and the left wing impacted a tree. The airplane rotated to the left, continued to descend, and impacted a road, before coming to rest inverted. The winds reported at an airport located about 6 miles to the west, at 1054, were from 050 degrees at 12 knots, gusts to 17 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 16, 2005, about 1052 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172B, N7653X, was substantially damaged while landing at the Perkiomen Valley Airport (N10), Collegeville, Pennsylvania. The certificated private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight that originated from Coatesville, Pennsylvania. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According the pilot, as the airplane crossed over a treeline on final approach to runway 9, it encountered a sudden downdraft. The airplane then began to descend, and the left wing impacted a tree. The airplane rotated to the left, continued to descend, and impacted a road, before coming to rest inverted.
The winds reported at an airport located about 6 miles to the west, at 1054, were from 050 degrees at 12 knots, gusts to 17 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7653X
- Reported as
- Cessna 172B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17248153
- Airframe hours
- 2,772
- Engine
- Continental O-300, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Claudia E. Garner
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 10, 2004 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- 40N · Chester County, PA
- Destination
- N10 · Collegeville, PA
- Airport
- N10 · Perkiomen Valley Airport, runway 09, 2,950 × 40 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
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- January 29, 2005
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 121 total · 51 in this make and model · 76 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 12 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.60 inHg
- Observed at
- PTW, 6 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.