Cessna 172P N54285 accident near Honesdale, Pennsylvania

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while departing in a heavily loaded airplane at high density altitude, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall, landing hard, and overrunning the runway.

NTSB analysis

The private pilot reported that the airplane was loaded near its maximum allowable gross weight before departure from the airport. The calculated density altitude was 3,297 ft mean sea level. The pilot stated that, after becoming airborne and climbing to 30 to 40 ft above ground level (agl), he "felt that the airplane was not climbing." The pilot subsequently closed the throttle and attempted to land on the remaining runway.

A review of surveillance video showed the wings of the airplane rocking immediately after liftoff at the mid-point of the runway, which was about 3,000 ft long. The video showed that the airplane's pitch attitude increased, but the airplane never climbed more than about 15 ft agl before it fell hard to the runway on all three landing gear, consistent with an aerodynamic stall. The airplane bounced several times, settled onto the runway with about 500 ft remaining, then overran the right side of the runway at the departure end. Performance data from the pilot's operating handbook indicated that, given the conditions present at the time of the accident, the airplane's landing distance was about 610 ft. Postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the airplane's wings; there was no evidence of any preimpact mechanical anomalies of the airframe or engine. A postaccident engine run also revealed no anomalies.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA16LA224 for the full record.