Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wilmington International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wilmington, North Carolina 28405
Sunday, November 14, 2004 14:37 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight, the student pilot detected an odor in the cockpit, then she saw smoke coming from a seam in the top of the instrument panel. The student pilot declared an emergency, proceeded toward the airport, and the smoke continued. She decided to land the airplane in the field. During landing roll, the airplane rolled into a drainage ditch and nosed over. Examination revealed the "audio amp" circuit breaker was found popped. Examination of the wiring behind the instrument panel revealed no visible evidence of burning. The circuit breaker was reset and the electrical master and avionics were turned on, and the ARC MX-300 radio in the Comm 2 position did not function. No smoke was observed and no odor was detected. The radio was removed for examination, and no evidence of burning was observed inside the radio case. A review of the Pilot's Operating Handbook for the Cessna 172N revealed no specific procedures for smoke in the cockpit. In Section 3, "Emergency Procedures, Fires," the handbook states, "The initial indication of an electrical fire is usually the odor of burning insulation. The checklist for this problem should result in elimination of the fire." According to the handbook, the checklist procedures for "Electrical Fire In Flight" are: "(1) Master Switch -- OFF. (2) All Other Switches (except ignition switch) -- OFF. (3) Vents/Cabin Air/Heat -- CLOSED. (4) Fire Extinguisher -- ACTIVATE (if available). If the fire appears out and electrical power is necessary for continuance of flight: (5) Master Switch -- ON. (6) Circuit Breakers -- CHECK for faulty circuit, do not reset. (7) Radio/Electrical Switches -- ON one at a time, with delay after each until short circuit is localized. (8) Vents/Cabin Air/Heat -- OPEN when it is ascertained that fire is completely extinguished."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's failure to recognize the proper emergency procedure, which resulted in a precautionary landing in a field and subsequent collision with a ditch. Factors were the undetermined electrical malfunction, smoke in the cockpit, and the student pilot's lack of experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/14/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1437 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Wilmington |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28405 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341603N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0774905W |
| Event Location Airport | Wilmington International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KILM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4.8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 Docket Number (internal use) | 17110 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N75776 |
| NTSB Number | ATL05CA024 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17267942 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pending: Chicken Hawk LLC, Applicant |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jennifer J. Rippy |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Wilmington |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KILM |
| Departure City | Wilmington |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |