Fort Myers, FL, USA
N385ME
CESSNA 172S
According to the pilot, he was practicing touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. During the takeoff roll following his eighth landing, he said he felt a gust of wind push the plane to the left. He applied full right aileron, but could not arrest the turn. He then applied the brakes, but the airplane departed the left side of the runway, impacted a ditch, and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the firewall, wings, and vertical stabilizer. During a subsequent examination of the wreckage, a Federal Aviation Administration inspector found the flaps in the FULL, 30-degree position. The inspector also reported that there were no anomalies with the airplane. The reported wind at the airport about the time of the accident was from 350 degrees at 7 knots.
According to the pilot, he was practicing touch and go landings on runway 5, a 6,404-foot-long, 150-foot-wide runway. During the takeoff roll following his eighth landing, the pilot felt "a gust of wind pushing…the plane to the left." He applied full right aileron, but could not arrest the turn. The pilot then applied the brakes, but the airplane departed the left side of the runway, impacted a ditch, and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the firewall, wings, and vertical stabilizer. During a subsequent examination of the wreckage, a Federal Aviation Administration inspector found the flaps in the FULL, 30-degree position. The inspector also reported that there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane. Winds, recorded at the airport about the time of the accident, were from 350 degrees true at 7 knots.
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the takeoff roll. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s attempt to take off with full flaps.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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