N1409UCessna 172M · 1976

On February 8, 2018, about 1130 central standard time, a Cessna 172M airplane, N1409U, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Centralia, Illinois. The private pilot was seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

The pilot stated that, during the takeoff roll, he rotated the airplane between about 70 and 80 knots and that, during rotation, the right wing dropped. The pilot then turned the yoke left, but the right wing continued to drop, increasing the bank angle. The pilot then “started applying back pressure” and said to himself, "I'm done." Subsequently, the airplane impacted the ground on the west side of the runway.

A witness, who was a flight instructor, was taxiing an airplane parallel to the runway from which the accident airplane took off. He stated that the airplane had a “very short ground roll” and a “nose high attitude” on takeoff. The nose continued to pitch up, and when the airplane was between about 150 and 200 ft above ground level, the right wing dropped “quickly,” the nose pitched down, and the airplane began to spin right before it impacted the ground.

The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failure with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Examination of the airplane revealed that the empennage had separated partially from the fuselage, that both wings exhibited aft accordion crush signatures, and that the engine was crushed aft into the fuselage.