Wakefield Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Wakefield, Virginia 23888
Tuesady, October 31, 2006 14:00 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While on a solo cross country flight in a Cessna 172M, the student pilot elected to divert instead of continuing with his planned flight after the airplane's radios began to operate intermittently and the electrical system failed. During the landing at the diversionary airport, the winds were gusting at 18 to 25 knots, though the winds had been originally forecasted to be favorable for his route of flight. During the landing the airplane lost "lift," touched down on the nose landing gear, and porpoised about three times before the student pilot was able to regain control. A post accident examination of the airplane revealed that it had incurred substantial damage. No anomalies with the electrical system were discovered.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's failure to maintain control during the landing. A factor to the accident was the wind gusts.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/31/2006
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Wakefield
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 23888
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 365914N
Event Location Longitude 0770004W
Event Location Airport Wakefield Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID AKQ
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 113
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
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 Clear
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 18
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 25
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.01
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
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21013
NTSB Notification Source FAA FSDO-21
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 26 2007 11:14AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N20931
NTSB Number NYC07CA019
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 172M
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17263871
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Aug 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 14107
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Red Rock Aviation Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Virginia Beach
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 23456
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Norfolk Aviation Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Chesapeake
Operator State VA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 23321
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 EMV
Departure City Emporia
Departure State VA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code AKQ
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 4 2006 11:37AM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 20
Runway Length 4337
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --