Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Canton-Plymoth-Mettetal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Canton, Michigan 48187
Wednesday, June 25, 1997 22:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he was established on final approach for a landing on runway 36 without the flaps lowered, when he realized that he was too high, and he made a decision to go around. The engine did not respond to throttle movement. The pilot knew of an open field north of the runway, but he thought it was not long enough to stop the aircraft so he executed a steep left turn to land on a nearby road that was perpendicular to the runway. During the turn, the left wing contacted the ground. Winds were reported as 180 degrees at 7 knots at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, ten miles to the southeast. Inspection of the carburetor disclosed that the throttle arm was installed out of position such that when the throttle was pulled fully closed the arm was pointing straight back at the cable. In this position, when the throttle was advanced in the cockpit, the cable and housing would bind and could allow the throttle arm on the carburetor to move upward instead of down and forward through the normal arch.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation from a binding throttle/power lever cable. Also causal was the improper maintenance, installation of the throttle arm. Contributing to the accident were the dark night and unsuitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/25/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2215 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | CANTON |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48187 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CANTON-PLYMOTH-METTETAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1D2 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 696 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2054 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DTW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 639 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1821 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1944 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 26 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 7 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7031Q |
| NTSB Number | CHI97FA188 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172-60331 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 20 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 94 |
| Airframe Hours | 4399 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GREAT LAKES AERONAUTICAL CLUB |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 30710 FINK |
| Aircraft Owner City | FARMINGTON HILL |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48336 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 3GM |
| Departure City | GRAND HAVEN |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2115 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 1D2 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 2800 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |