Cessna 172N accident near Mount Gilead, OH
On December 30, 2004, a Cessna 172N (airplane) was involved in an accident near Mount Gilead, OH. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- December 30, 2004
- Place
- Mount Gilead, OH
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172N · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 40.524°N, 82.850°W
- NTSB ID
- 20050114X00050
NTSB summary
On December 30, 2004, about 1000 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172N, N737AZ, was substantially damaged after departure when it impacted terrain during an uncontrolled descent near the Morrow County Airport (4I9), Mount Gilead, Ohio. The certificated private pilot, and the two passengers were fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal local flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to several witnesses, the weather was initially conducive for operating under visual flight rules, but deteriorated "rapidly" as the pilot taxied to the runway. Once airborne, the airplane entered an overcast cloud layer at approximately 300 feet agl, and then was heard circling back towards the airport. The airplane then descended out of the overcast at a high rate of speed, in a nose low attitude, and impacted the ground. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine-land, and did not hold an instrument rating. Her most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on June 4, 2002. At that time she reported 600 total hours of flight experience. According to the pilot's most recent log book, she had accumulated 27 hours in the preceding 90 days, and 13 hours in the preceding 30 days, all of which were in the accident airplane. The first entry in the log book was dated October 8, 2003, and from that entry until the most recent, dated December 18, 2004, she did not log any night or instrument flight experience, nor did
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane following an inadvertent encounter with instrument meteorological conditions. A factor in the accident was the rapidly deteriorating weather.
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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
