Cessna 172L accident near Perkinsville, AZ
On September 22, 2017, a Cessna 172L (airplane) was involved in an accident near Perkinsville, AZ. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- September 22, 2017
- Place
- Perkinsville, AZ
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172L · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 34.884°N, 112.156°W
- NTSB ID
- 20170923X85234
Official records · WPR17FA213
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Audio - Prescott Tower Ground Control Position 2308-2321Z: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Audio - Prescott Tower Local Control Position 22315-2331Z: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn September 22, 2017, about 1635 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172L, N7070Q, collided with mountainous terrain near Perkinsville, Arizona. The private pilot and passenger sustained fatal injuries, and the airplane was destroyed by postimpact fire. The airplane was registered to Peach Flyers LLC and was operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which departed Ernest A. Love Field Airport (PRC), Prescott, Arizona, at 1621 with an unknown destination. The pilot told family members that he was planning to fly with his friend, who was the passenger, and stay in the traffic pattern at PRC performing touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided data from an airport surveillance radar sensor located in Seligman, Arizona (about 57 miles northwest of PRC), and audio recordings from the PRC air traffic control tower. The data revealed that, on the day of the accident, after contacting ground controllers, the pilot switched to the tower frequency and requested a departure to the northeast. The clearance was granted, and after taking off from runway 21R, a radar target with a transponder beacon code of 1200 entered the right downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern and departed to the northeast. Over the next 2 1/2 minutes, the target climbed to a transponder-reported altitude of 7,175 ft mean sea level (msl), about 2,100 ft above field elevation, where it leveled off 2.75 miles nor
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to fly into a canyon during wind conditions conducive to turbulence and downdrafts, and his subsequent loss of aircraft control while maneuvering in the canyon. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's limited canyon flying experience.
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.
