Natchitoches Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Natchitoches, Louisiana 71456
Sunday, August 17, 2014 11:05 CDT

On August 17, 2014, about 1105 central daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N734YW, sustained substantial damage when it hit trees and impacted the terrain after a loss of engine power during the initial climb from the Natchitoches Regional Airport (IER), Natchitoches, Louisiana. The pilot received serious injuries, and the passenger was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by Cane River Aviation, Inc., under the provisions of the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the flight, which was operating without a flight plan. The airplane departed IER about 1102 on a local flight. Security cameras located about 0.4 miles east of the departure end of runway 17 recorded much of the accident flight. One camera recorded the accident airplane during its initial climb after departing from runway 17. The airplane can be seen as it climbed to 300 to 400 feet above ground level as it headed south of the airport. Another camera recorded the airplane as it appeared to level off with black smoke trailing from the airplane. The airplane turned to the left as it continued to trail black smoke. A third camera recorded the airplane as it turned left to a heading of about 030 degrees. No black smoke could be seen, but the airplane was losing altitude for about 1.0 nautical mile (nm) before it impacted a tree line. The accident site was located about 0.65 nm from the approach end of runway 25 on a 290 degree bearing. The airplane hit the top branches of a 50-foot willow tree and impacted the terrain in a bean field. The initial impact point was about 150 feet from the willow tree on a heading of 320 degrees. The cut through the willow tree was consistent with about a 45-degree left wing low attitude. The left wing's red navigation lens was found in the debris field before the initial impact point. The main wreckage was located about 15 feet from the initial impact point, and it came to rest heading 120 degrees. The front section of the airplane, which included the instrument panel, was partially separated from rest of the fuselage forward of the wing strut fuselage attach points. The engine and propeller exhibited minimal impact damage. The propeller was bent slightly aft, but both propeller blades were straight with no leading edge damage or chordwise scratching. The propeller spinner exhibited no rotational signatures. The nose gear separated from the fuselage, but the main landing gear remained intact. The left front seat remained attached to the seat track and was latched in the fourth hole from the front of the seat track. The left front seat belt was observed unlatched with the shoulder harness remaining attached to the fitting. The right front seat was observed separated from the seat tracks and outside the aircraft. The right front seat belt shoulder harness was observed attached to the fitting. Both wings remained intact, but the leading edge of the left wing exhibited aft crushing along its entire span. The right wing had leading edge crush damage on the outboard section of the wing. The ailerons and flaps remained attached to both wings. The flaps were in the up position. The left and right fuel tanks remained intact and both fuel caps were secure. The empennage remained largely intact. The vertical stabilizer and rudder had minimal damage. The left and right horizontal stabilizers exhibited aft crushing and leading edge damage. Flight control cable continuity was confirmed from the flight controls to their respective attach points on the flight control surfaces. At 1035, the surface weather observation at IER was: wind 250 degrees at 6 knots; visibility 10 miles; scattered clouds at 2,600 feet; scattered clouds at 3,300 feet, temperature 31 degrees Celsius (C); dew point 24 degrees C, and altimeter 30.02 inches of mercury.

Not Yet Reported