Cessna 172RG accident near Grand Canyon, AZ
On October 5, 1996, a Cessna 172RG (airplane) was involved in an accident near Grand Canyon, AZ. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 5, 1996
- Place
- Grand Canyon, AZ
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172RG · Airplane
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 36.030°N, 112.021°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001208X06910
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 5, 1996, at 0853 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 172RG, N6267R, collided with trees and terrain during departure climb out, 5 miles north of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, airport. The aircraft was destroyed and the private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a VFR flight plan had been filed to Page, Arizona. The operator of the rented aircraft told the NTSB investigator that the pilot and his passengers departed from his base of operations at Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona, on October 4, 1996, about 1300. The aircraft had flown 2.0 hours from when it departed Mesa to the time of the accident. The operator speculated that the pilot had flown directly to the Grand Canyon and, after remaining overnight, was departing to Page at the time of the accident. The aircraft was scheduled to return to Mesa at 1700 on October 5, 1996. On the morning of the accident the aircraft was fueled to capacity at Grand Canyon before departure. The pilot had originally ordered the addition of 3 gallons of fuel in each of the aircraft's two fuel tanks (6 gallons total), but during the fueling, for unknown reasons, he instructed the fueler to "top off" the fuel and a total of 18 gallons was pumped on board. The pilot was cleared for takeoff from the departure end of runway 3 at 0845. Runway 3 is 8,999 feet long and slopes uphill at a 0.7 percent gradient. The terrain north of the airport slopes uphill at approximately 80 feet per mile. After takeoff (at 0846), the controller in the Grand Canyon Air Traffic Cont
Probable cause
the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and preparation, which resulted in an inability to outclimb rising/wooded terrain after takeoff. Factors relating to the accident were: failure of the pilot to ensure that the aircraft's gross weight was not exceed for takeoff, high density altitude, the pilot's lack of experience in high density altitude operations, and the rising/mountainous terrain cond
More accidents in AZ
- De Havilland DHC-6-300, Sep 27, 1989
- Cessna 402C, Jun 19, 1992
- Piper PA-31-350, Aug 17, 1983
- Piper PA-31-350, Feb 13, 1995
- Cessna 421C, Sep 2, 1995
Browse: Arizona · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
