Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Us Air Force Academy Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80840
Saturday, March 24, 2012 13:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he rotated the airplane at 55 knots and that it immediately started to drift. He heard the stall warning horn so he lowered the nose. The airplane subsequently impacted the ground, and the pilot pulled the throttle to idle. The airplane was approaching the crossing runway, and there was a hump or ditch near the runway edge. The pilot pulled back on the controls to avoid the obstacle, and the airplane became airborne and climbed to about 10 to 15 feet above the ground. The airplane then landed hard and bounced. The nose landing gear impacted the dirt and the airplane nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that the wind during takeoff was “slightly from the right” at 9 knots gusting to 13 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot did not maintain control of the airplane during takeoff, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose over.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Colorado Springs |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80840 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385806N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044828W |
| Event Location Airport | US Air Force Academy Airfield |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AFF |
| 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 | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 6572 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AFF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 13 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29796 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-DRA-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 17 2012 3:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N97LP |
| NTSB Number | CEN12CA200 |
| 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 | 172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17274398 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Jan 13 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1257 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AERO CLUB |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9222 AIRFIELD DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | USAF ACADEMY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80840-2098 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AERO CLUB |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 9222 AIRFIELD DR |
| Operator City | USAF ACADEMY |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80840-2098 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | AFF |
| Departure City | Colorado Springs |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | AFF |
| Destination City | Colorado Springs |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 16 2012 3:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34R |
| Runway Length | 3500 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |