N97883Cessna 172P · 1984

On October 6, 2022, at 1507 eastern daylight time, N97883, a Cessna 172, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain on takeoff from the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF), Newport News, Virginia. The flight instructor was fatally injured, and the student pilot and the pilot-rated passenger were seriously injured. The flight was being conducted as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

A review of airport surveillance video revealed that after the airplane departed runway 20, it entered a steep, nose-high pitch attitude and climbed to an altitude of about 50-100 ft above the runway before the left-wing dropped rapidly. The airplane then entered a descending left turn before it impacted terrain west of the runway.

A witness, who was a flight instructor, was taxiing south on taxiway Alpha when he observed the accident airplane in a nose-high pitch attitude (about 30° nose up) on takeoff. He said the airplane reached a height of about 200 ft above the ground when the left wing “stalled” and dropped. The witness thought the instructor of the accident airplane tried to recover from the stall because the airplane’s wings leveled out momentarily before the left wing dropped again, and the airplane hit the ground on its belly. The witness described what he observed as a “power on stall.”

The pilot-rated passenger onboard the accident airplane, who was seated behind the student pilot in the rear left seat, knew the student pilot from school. The student pilot had asked him to go on the flight because he was nervous about this being his first training flight. The pilot-rated passenger said the flight instructor had the student pilot assist with the takeoff. She had him place his hands on the control wheel and advised him that she would tell him when to start pulling back during the takeoff roll. The pilot-rated passenger said the takeoff roll was normal, and when the airplane reached rotation speed, the flight instructor told the student pilot to start pulling back on the control wheel. The student pilot pulled back on the control wheel and the airplane lifted off the runway. The pilot-rated passenger said everything was normal "at first" and the airplane began to climb. But the student pilot kept pulling back on the control wheel and the airplane pitched up, the stall horn came on, and the airplane began to stall before it “nose-dived” to the ground. The stall horn stayed on until impact. The pilot-rated passenger said the flight instructor was trying hard to get control of the airplane before it hit the ground. He thought she may have pushed the nose over at one point, but by the time she could get control, “it was too late.”

The student pilot said that this was his first training flight. He was more “excited than nervous” and the pilot-rated passenger was there because he just wanted to come along and “see the flight.” The student pilot said he met the flight instructor once before the flight and she told him the first lesson would involve learning how to performa a preflight inspection of an airplane followed by a flight around the local area. The student pilot said that before boarding the airplane the flight instructor showed him how to perform a preflight inspection of the airplane.

The student pilot said that he did not recall portions of the accident, but he did recall the flight instructor starting the engine and taxiing to the runway. He did not recall if the flight instructor told him how they were going to perform the takeoff roll, or the actual takeoff roll itself. However, he remembered being airborne and the airplane “stalling.” He said the nose of the airplane “was really high” and the back of the airplane was low. The student pilot did not recall hearing the stall horn, but remembered the flight instructor was “yelling.” He did not remember what she was saying, and he did not recall if his hands were on the control wheel. The student pilot said he “blacked out” (he thought due to shock), and he did not remember the airplane impacting the ground. His next memory was waking up in the hospital.

The flight instructor’s logbook was not recovered. Information provided by the flight school that operated the airplane revealed that she had accrued about 333.8 total flight hours at the time of the accident, about 75.5 hours of which were as a flight instructor.

The airplane came to rest in a ditch on a magnetic heading of about 090°. All major components of the airplane were located at the accident site and there was no postimpact fire. The engine was pushed into the firewall and the fuselage, both wings, and the empennage sustained substantial damage. The tail control surfaces exhibited minor to no damage. Flight control continuity was established from all major flight control surfaces to the cockpit. The flap actuator was in the fully retracted position and the elevator trim tab actuator was found in the 5° tab up position.

The engine was separated from the airframe and examined. When the engine was manually rotated via the propeller, valvetrain continuity and compression were established on each cylinder. A lighted borescope was used to examine the interior of each cylinder and no anomalies were noted. All eight spark plugs were removed from the engine and exhibited normal wear/color per the Champion Check-A-Plug chart. Both magnetos remained attached to the engine and no damage was noted. Both magnetos produced spark from all ignition towers when rotated by hand.

Examination of the fuel system revealed that both wing fuel tanks were breached from impact and contained an unmeasured amount of fuel. Both fuel caps were secure to each wing. Air was blown through the fuel/vent lines and no blockages were noted. The fuel selector was on “both” and a small amount of 100LL fuel was observed in the airframe fuel filter bowl. Some debris was noted in the bowl, but the filter screen was absent of debris. The carburetor remained attached to the engine and no external damage was noted. The throttle cable remained attached to the carburetor throttle control arm and the arm was positioned in a mid-range position. The cockpit throttle control knob was also observed in a mid-range position.

A postaccident examination of the airplane and engine revealed no evidence of any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

An autopsy was completed on the flight instructor by the Department of Health, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Norfolk, Virginia, on October 7, 2022. The cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt force injuries and the manner of death was an accident.

Toxicology testing performed at the Federal Aviation Administration Forensic Sciences Laboratory identified Fluconazole in the instructor’s heart blood and liver. Fluconazole is a drug that treats fungal infections and is not considered impairing.

Hospital admission blood and urine specimens for the student pilot were requested within 24 hours of the accident; however, the specimens were not provided for testing until three weeks after the accident. As such, the specimens would not provide any toxicological insight into the condition of the student pilot at the time of the accident. No testing was performed.

A review of the flight school’s Flight Course Syllabus – Flight Lesson 1- Introductory Flight, revealed the following objectives:

-Review and understand the use of checklists during the preflight Inspection, engine starting, before-takeoff, after-landing parking, and securing procedures.

-Identify the required certificates and documents on board the airplane.

-Locate and understand how to use onboard safety equipment including the fire extinguisher and first aid kit.

-Understand the technique for the positive exchange of flight controls.

-Understand how to taxi the airplane including using the brakes.

-Become familiar with collision avoidance procedures.

-Become familiar with a normal takeoff and climb; and normal approach and landing.

-Understand how to conduct basic maneuvers including straight-and-level flight, climbs, descents, level offs, and medium-banked turns.

-Understand how to use the trim controls to relieve control pressures.

The student said he did not recall any instruction provided by the flight instructor before takeoff. According to the pilot-rated passenger, he did not recall the flight instructor discussing the technique used for a positive exchange of the flight controls with the student pilot before takeoff.