Loss of control Accident Cessna 172R Skyhawk N475ER,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 122863
 
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Date:Wednesday 1 June 2011
Time:14:33
Type:Silhouette image of generic C172 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Cessna 172R Skyhawk
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: N475ER
MSN: 17280670
Year of manufacture:1998
Engine model:Lycoming IO360 SER
Fatalities:Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Wendover Airport - KENV, UT -   United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature:Executive
Departure airport:St George, UT (KSGU)
Destination airport:Provo, UT (KPVU)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
About 2 hours after takeoff the pilot contacted air traffic control (ATC) services requesting that the controller identify his airplane on radar and provide him with location information. The controller provided the location information and vectors to the requested airport. A review of the ATC communications indicated that the pilot was unsure of his location and was low on fuel. At this point in the flight, the airplane's center of gravity (cg) was calculated to be 2.3 inches aft of the aft cg limit. Generally, as the cg moves aft beyond the aft limit there is an increasing likelihood that the airplane will enter a realm of decreasing pitch stability and have tail-heavy flight characteristics. The pilot attempted to land on a runway with an 80-degree crosswind that was 24 knots gusting to 28 knots. The airplane flew almost sideways down the runway and touched down on the runway several times before climbing back into the air. Surveillance video captured images of the airplane climbing above the runway; between 300 and 400 feet above ground level (agl) it made a right-hand turn, then plummeted vertically and impacted the ground. The sudden change from a 24-knot left crosswind to a 24-knot tailwind during the pilot’s execution of the right-hand turn towards the downwind leg of the landing pattern, combined with some pitch sensitivity due to the cg location, most likely induced an aerodynamic stall and subsequent loss of lift that was not anticipated nor compensated for by the pilot. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot did not receive a weather brief from flight services, nor had he logged in to the Federl Aviation Administration's on-line flight planning system.
Probable Cause: The pilot did not maintain adequate airspeed during the downwind turn resulting in an aerodynamic stall, in-flight loss of control, and spin. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight planning and exceedance of the approved weight and balance envelope.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: WPR11FA242
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 3 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB

History of this aircraft

Other occurrences involving this aircraft
20 November 1999 N475ER Embry-riddle Aero. Unv. 0 Daytona Beach, FL sub
Bounced on landing

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
01-Jun-2011 19:09 RobertMB Added
02-Jun-2011 02:19 RobertMB Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Narrative]
21-Dec-2016 19:25 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
27-Nov-2017 16:55 ASN Update Bot Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]

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