Wirestrike Accident Cessna 172K Skyhawk N7045G,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 156558
 
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Date:Wednesday 12 June 2013
Time:09:30
Type:Silhouette image of generic C172 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Cessna 172K Skyhawk
Owner/operator:Newton Flying Club Inc
Registration: N7045G
MSN: 17258745
Year of manufacture:1969
Total airframe hrs:10891 hours
Engine model:Lycoming O-360-A4M
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:James H Easom Field Airport - M23, Newton, MS -   United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature:Training
Departure airport:Newton, MS (M23)
Destination airport:Newton, MS (M23)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
After an uneventful instructional flight, the student pilot entered the left downwind leg of the traffic pattern while the airplane was at 1,200 ft mean sea level. The flight instructor then asked the student to turn onto the base leg of the traffic pattern, but “he was slow to respond,” and the airplane was too fast, which extended the downwind leg farther out than normal. The flight instructor then noticed that the student had not extended the wing flaps to the 10-degree position. The student pilot then extended the wing flaps to 10 degrees and started to slow the airplane. The flight instructor then asked the student to turn onto final, and, because of the extended downwind leg, to stop descending and add power. The student then arrested the descent, but he failed to add power as instructed. The flight instructor again asked the student to add power; however, the student did not respond by either adding power or by asking the flight instructor for clarification. The flight instructor stated that he was distracted by the airplane’s airspeed and altitude and the student’s lack of response and that he did not see the power lines during the final approach even though he had flown over them many times. When he finally did see the power lines, he took control of the airplane and then added full power and maximum up elevator. However, the airplane struck a static wire that ran along the top of the power poles, nosed over, and impacted terrain.
Review of Federal Aviation Administration records revealed that the student pilot held a third-class medical certificate with the limitation that he ”must use hearing amplification.” However, the student pilot was not wearing a hearing aid during the accident flight; therefore, he might not have heard the flight instructor’s command to increase engine power, which would explain his failure to do so as instructed. Further, neither the student pilot nor the flight instructor were wearing headsets in the loud cockpit of the single-engine airplane, which also could have made it difficult for the student pilot to hear the flight instructor’s command.
Although the power lines were not included in the airport information in the Airport/Facility Directory, they were depicted in the sectional aeronautical chart for the area. Examination of the power lines revealed that not only were they below the runway’s 7.00-degree glidepath that was provided by a pulsating visual approach slope indicator to ensure obstacle clearance but that they were also below the obstruction identification surfaces listed in federal regulations, and, in many areas, they were at or below the trees located on the approach end of the runway. Given this information and the fact that the flight instructor had flown over them many times, the power lines should not have been a hazard. The flight instructor’s slow response to the student pilot’s failure to increase power during the descent led to the airplane’s collision with the wire.

Probable Cause: The student pilot's failure to increase engine power during the descent for landing when instructed to do so by the flight instructor and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action, which resulted in collision with a static wire. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot's failure to use hearing amplification as required by his Federal Aviation Administration medical certificate.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: ERA13LA281
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=7045G

https://flightaware.com/photos/view/59614-71c89d28b43d0a9aa12e8494fb435831e9cb8d17/aircrafttype/C172

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
12-Jun-2013 23:55 Geno Added
21-Dec-2016 19:28 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
29-Nov-2017 08:45 ASN Update Bot Updated [Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]

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