Truckee Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Truckee, California 96161
Monday, September 5, 1994 10:44 PDT

THE PILOT (PIC) AND THREE PASSENGERS WERE DEPARTING FROM THE MOUNTAIN AIRPORT AT A DENSITY ALTITUDE OF ABOUT 7542 FEET. THE PIC WAS A MILITARY PILOT WITH 288 HOURS OF TOTAL FLIGHT TIME, OF WHICH 144 HOURS WERE LOGGED AS HELICOPTER TIME. ABOUT FOUR MONTHS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT, THE PIC WAS ISSUED AN FAA COMMERCIAL PILOT CERTIFICATE BASED ON HIS MILITARY COMPETENCE. ABOUT A MONTH BEFORE THE ACCIDENT, HE HAD A CHECKOUT IN THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE. BY THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT, HE HAD ACCUMULATED ABOUT 11 HOURS OF FLIGHT TIME IN THE CESSNA 172RG. THE AIRPLANE WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 32 POUNDS OVER ITS MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT. GROUND WITNESSES SAW IT ROTATE AT MID-FIELD, ASSUME A NOSE HIGH ATTITUDE, AND REACH AN ESTIMATED 100 FEET ABOVE THE RUNWAY. THEY REPORTED THE AIRPLANE CONTINUED PAST THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY WITHOUT GAINING ADDITIONAL ALTITUDE, WHERE IT ENTERED A LEFT TURN. THE AIRPLANE THEN ROLLED TO THE LEFT AND IMPACTED THE GROUND INVERTED. POSTCRASH EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT THE ELEVATOR TRIM TAB WAS AT 10 DEGREES TAB DOWN. NORMAL TAKEOFF ELEVATOR TRIM WAS ABOUT NEUTRAL OR ZERO DEGREES. NO PREIMPACT MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE OF THE AIRPLANE WAS FOUND THAT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN THE ACCIDENT, THOUGH THE PLANE WAS DAMAGED BY FIRE.

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO OBTAIN/MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED TO CLIMB AFTER TAKEOFF, WHICH RESULTED IN A STALL AND SUBSEQUENT COLLISION WITH THE GROUND. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, IMPROPER TRIM SETTING FOR TAKEOFF, THE AIRPLANE'S EXCESSIVE GROSS WEIGHT, AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE MAKE/MODEL OF AIRPLANE.