Cessna 172P N96178 accident near Davis, West Virginia

Probable cause

The pilot’s improper glidepath as he approached the runway and his subsequent delayed decision to abort the landing.

NTSB analysis

At the end of a cross-country flight, the pilot entered the traffic pattern for the 3,000-foot-long by 40-foot-wide runway at the residential airpark. The pilot stated that because he was concerned about the houses located near the runway, he approached the runway higher and faster than he normally would. As a result, the airplane touched down near the runway mid-point. When he realized that insufficient distance remained to stop the airplane, the pilot aborted the landing. During the subsequent climb, the pilot heard the stall warning sound and decreased the pitch attitude to gain airspeed. About that time, the airplane struck trees beyond the departure end of the runway and impacted the ground in a nose-down attitude, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airframe or engine what would have precluded normal operation and that his decision to abort the landing was “about 5 seconds too late.”

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA13CA218 for the full record.