- Date
- May 22, 2008, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Chuckey, TN
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N74WCCessna 172M
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20080522836069A
- Case key
- 68070
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 of the airplane during the takeoff roll. Contributing to the accident was his failure to abort the takeoff.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot of a Cessna 172M said that the preflight, runup, and initial takeoff roll on runway 1 "were normal." During the takeoff roll, the airplane veered left onto the grass, and the pilot's efforts to direct the airplane back onto the runway were "unsuccessful." The airplane crossed a taxiway perpendicular to the runway, and became airborne. It continued to drift left, and the left wing struck a tree at a point approximately 25 feet above the ground. The airplane then descended and impacted the ground. It came to rest upright, on a heading of approximately 245 degrees, in the grass on the west side of the runway. The pilot exited through his door, and tried unsuccessfully to put out a fire in the engine compartment, using the airplane's hand held fire extinguisher. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and engine compartment. Runway 1 was dry asphalt, and measured 3,000 feet long and 50 feet wide. The pilot reported the winds as "light and variable." The reported wind at an airport located approximately 22 miles northeast of the accident location, about the time of the accident, was winds from 280 degrees at 7 knots, direction variable from 260 to 330 degrees.
Factual narrative
The pilot of a Cessna 172M said that the preflight, runup, and initial takeoff roll on runway 1 "were normal." During the takeoff roll, the airplane veered left onto the grass, and the pilot's efforts to direct the airplane back onto the runway were "unsuccessful." The airplane crossed a taxiway perpendicular to the runway, and became airborne. It continued to drift left, and the left wing struck a tree at a point approximately 25 feet above the ground. The airplane then descended and impacted the ground. It came to rest upright, on a heading of approximately 245 degrees, in the grass on the west side of the runway. The pilot exited through his door, and tried unsuccessfully to put out a fire in the engine compartment, using the airplane's hand held fire extinguisher. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and engine compartment. Runway 1 was dry asphalt, and measured 3,000 feet long and 50 feet wide. The pilot reported the winds as "light and variable." The reported wind at an airport located approximately 22 miles northeast of the accident location, about the time of the accident, was winds from 280 degrees at 7 knots, direction variable from 260 to 330 degrees.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N74WC
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17262555
- Airframe hours
- 3,112
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Eugene H. Haskins
- Registered owner
- Skycrafters Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 2007 · 180 hours before
- Departed
- 04TN · Chuckey, TN
- Destination
- TRI · Blounitville, TN
- Airport
- 04TN · Hensley Airpark, runway 01, 3,000 × 50 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
- 75
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 1, 2006
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 212 total · 212 in this make and model · 83 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- TRI, 22 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.