Cessna 177 N177D accident near Franklin, Virginia

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from trees during the initial climb following an aborted precautionary landing. Contributing to the outcome were the inoperative runway lights, which reduced the likelihood that the pilot could successfully land the airplane on the runway at night.

NTSB analysis

The private pilot departed with full fuel tanks for the cross-country flight with a planned fuel stop en route. As the pilot neared the fuel stop airport, the fuel gauges indicated 3/4 capacity remaining, so he elected to continue to his destination airport. When the flight was 38 miles from the destination, with the fuel selector on the right tank position, the engine “started sputtering.” He then moved the fuel selector to the left tank position and turned the airplane towards a diversion airport. He checked the weather and NOTAMs for the diversion airport and noted nothing that concerned him. As he approached the diversion airport, he keyed the airplane’s radio transmitter 5 times and then 7 times on the common traffic advisory frequency to turn on the runway lights, but they did not turn on (the end of civil twilight had occurred about an hour prior). Concerned about the airplane’s fuel level, he landed but did not know how far down the runway he had landed. He described that the approach was “too fast” and the airplane bounced. After touching down, he applied the brakes but realized he would be unable to stop the airplane on the remaining portion of the runway. He added full power, started to climb, and thinking that the airplane had climbed higher than it actually had, he then banked left. The airplane’s left wing then collided with trees substantially damaging it and bringing the airplane to a stop. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He also stated that had he known the runway lights were inoperative, he would have diverted to a different airport.

Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed the airplane’s radios were tuned to the correct frequency to activate the runway lights. According to the airport manager the, pilot-controlled lighting system at the airport was normally checked on the 1st day of every month and had been last checked 25 days before the accident. Following the accident, he discovered that they were inoperative. Given this information, it is possible that the pilot could have performed a successful landing had the runway lights been operational.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA23LA094 for the full record.