Mid-air collision Accident Cessna 172P N96621,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 46015
 
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Date:Tuesday 6 February 2001
Time:17:45
Type:Silhouette image of generic C172 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Cessna 172P
Owner/operator:Monarch Aviation Inc.
Registration: N96621
MSN: 17276096
Year of manufacture:1984
Fatalities:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Platter, OK -   United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Addison, TX (ADS)
Destination airport:
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
A Cessna 172 had just crossed the east shoreline of a lake, traveling in a southeasterly direction in cruise flight, when its pilot felt a "lump or thud" near the rear of the airplane. The Cessna 172 (white with blue and gray trim) and a Cessna 152 (white with blue and gold trim) had collided. The pilot of the Cessna 172 then felt air coming into the cabin from the left door and realized that the airplane required excessive right rudder to maintain directional control. Subsequently, the Cessna 172 proceeded to a nearby airport and landed without further incident. The Cessna 152 entered an uncontrolled descent and impacted the lake. The flight instructor and student pilot in the Cessna 152 were practicing pre-solo flight maneuvers. The Cessna 172 displayed longitudinal red and blue paint transfer markings, which initiated at the left wing strut and extended aft along the exterior lower half of the pilot's door, which was compressed inward 5 inches. The witness marks continued aft along the left side of the fuselage and empennage ending approximately 1 foot forward of the horizontal stabilizer. A vertical propeller slash was observed on the belly of the Cessna 172, which initiated at a point 3 feet forward of the tail tie down ring and extended aft 2 feet. Two puncture holes were noted on the upper right side of the Cessna 172's empennage, which corresponded to the location that the Cessna 152's propeller blade tip exited the Cessna 172's airframe skin after it had severed one of the Cessna 172's rudder cables. The Cessna 152's shattered red navigational light lens, shattered clear strobe light lens and its coil, and sections of its left wing-tip cap were found on the cabin floor of the Cessna 172. Sections of the Cessna 152's left wing-tip cap, a 4-foot section of its aileron control surface, and its strobe light power box attached to a 2-foot section of left wing skin were located in a separate debris field along the shoreline of the lake. Official sunset for the accident area occurred at 1802, 7 minutes after the accident occurred. The pilot of the Cessna 172 reported that the visibility was clear with haze in the direction of the sun, which was setting.


Probable Cause: the failure of both pilots to maintain a visual lookout, which resulted in a mid-air collision over a lake. A contributing factor to the accident was the sun glare from the setting sun.

Sources:

NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20010214X00444&key=1

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
28-Oct-2008 00:45 ASN archive Added
21-Dec-2016 19:24 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
10-Dec-2017 10:32 ASN Update Bot Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]

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