WESTON, WV, USA
N5085G
CESSNA 172N
THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN ON RUNWAY 01 MOMENTARILY AND THEN TOOK OFF AGAIN. DURING THE CLIMB, THE AIRPLANE'S LEFT WING AND NOSE DROPPED SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE LEFT WING STRUCK THE GROUND FOLLOWED BY THE NOSE. THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED BY WITNESSES 'CLIMBING AT A VERY STEEP ANGLE AND...DIDN'T LOOK LIKE IT WAS MOVING FORWARD,...ALMOST STANDING STILL....' POSTACCIDENT EXAMINATION BY THE FAA REVEALED NO ANOMALIES WITH THE AIRFRAME OR ENGINE. ADDITIONALLY, THE FLAPS WERE FOUND IN THE RETRACTED POSITION.
On May 27, 1995, about 1215 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N5085G, impacted the ground during a go-around at Louis Bennett Field, Weston, West Virginia. The private pilot and one passenger were fatally injured. Two passengers received serious injuries and the airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that originated at Columbus, Ohio. There was no flight plan for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. One witness reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector that the airplane touched down momentarily on runway 01 and then took off again. In a statement submitted by the FAA Inspector, a witness stated: I was in front of one of the cabins which is near the airport and I could hear this airplane coming. It sounded like it was taking a long time and [I] looked up and I could see it overhead. It was climbing at a very steep angle and it didn't look like it was moving forward and was almost standing still. It was approximately 200 feet in the air, just about over the road which runs past the [departure] end of the runway, and when I looked up it looked like it was starting a turn to the left, but it just rolled over to the left and came straight down into the road. The left wing struck the road slightly before the nose and the airplane spun around and slid backwards a few feet in the upright position. The winds reported 18 miles southwest of Weston, at 1258, were from 110 degrees at 9 knots with gusts up to 18 knots. According to the pilot's logbook, he held a Private Pilot Certificate, with approximately 151 hours of total flight time. Postaccident examination by the FAA revealed no anomalies with the airplane or engine. Additionally, the flaps were found in the retracted position. An autopsy was performed on the pilot on May 29, 1995, by Dr. Jack Frost, M.D., Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, North Central Region, Morgantown, West Virginia. The toxicological testing report, for the pilot, from the FAA Toxicology Accident Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, revealed negative results for drugs, carbon monoxide, cyanide and alcohol.
the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall, and a subsequent uncontrolled descent and collision with the ground.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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