Cessna 172K N79210 accident near Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania

Probable cause

The pilot's improper airspeed while landing.

NTSB analysis

The pilot of the Cessna 172K stated that he entered the pattern for runway 1, a 2007-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, asphalt runway. His traffic pattern altitude was 200 feet higher than the required 1,500 feet. He performed a slip to lose the excess altitude and establish an 80-mph descent on a downwind leg, with 10 degrees of flap extension. The pilot added another 10 degrees of flaps, reduced the throttle to 1,300 rpm, and turned onto a base leg. The airplane's speed remained at 80 mph, instead of decreasing to the 75 mph speed he was trying to attain. Although his speed was still higher than the speed he wanted, he turned to final and overshot the runway "numbers." He added, "the plane was traveling too fast to make the turn at the end of the runway." Consequently, he "ran off the end of the runway into an embankment." The pilot did not report any mechanical or flight control anomalies prior to the accident.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for MIA08CA182 for the full record.