Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Immokalee Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Immokalee, Florida 34142
Friday, September 6, 2002 13:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the student pilot, she departed from runway 09, and at 300 feet above ground level she began "fighting with the yoke" of the airplane. The student pilot stated that she adjusted the trim, but the "nose was up and the airplane was coming down". She squawked 7700 on the transponder, and prepared for a precautionary landing by closing the throttle. The student pilot selected a field in front of her, approximately two miles northeast of the departure end of runway 09. The airplane landed hard, with the nose wheel impacting the ground first, and slid across a wet pasture coming to rest in a pond. The pilot stated that the autopilot circuit breaker had been pulled prior to flight and that she had observed the autopilot run through the preflight checks when electrical power was applied to the aircraft prior to departure. According to the student pilot, she had been instructed during her flight training to pull the circuit breaker prior to each solo flight and not to operate the autopilot at this stage of her training. Examination of the airplane revealed all of the circuit breakers were in the "IN" position. The nose landing gear collapsed aft and to the left, and the engine firewall was damage. The elevator trim was found in a nose up position. A series of tests were conducted to verify operation of the autopilot computer, autopilot circuit breaker, autopilot disconnect switch on the yoke, and the trim switch. The autopilot and its components operated normally during these tests.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's improper flare at touchdown resulted in a hard landing while performing an off-airport precautionary landing after the inadvertent activation of the autopilot.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/6/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1345 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Immokalee |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34142 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 262510N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0812406W |
| Event Location Airport | IMMOKALEE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IMM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 70 |
| Airport Elevation | 36 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 288 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RSW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1991 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14400 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 6 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Miami FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N827SP |
| NTSB Number | ATL02LA166 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17258740 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 4 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 1181 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Skystead Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 200 Aviation Dr. N Suite 6 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Naples |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34104 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | APF |
| Departure City | Naples |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | IMM |
| Destination City | Immokalee |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2003 2:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 090 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |