N55164

On September 20, 1994, at 1830 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N55164, piloted by Marc B. Cananese, of Worcester, Massachusetts, overran the runway during landing at Sterling, Massachusetts. The airplane was destroyed. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight which was operated under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to the pilot, the flight originated in Worcester with a landing at Orange, Massachusetts, prior to the landing on runway 34R at Sterling. The first approach was high and he went around, and came back for a second approach. In the NTSB Accident report, the pilot stated:

...As I cleared the highway obstruction the airspeed was just below 70 kts. The airplane floated over the runway and touched down at about midfield. I believed that I could stop the plane in the distance remaining and I used full braking. As the end of the runway came closer, I decided that a go-around at that point would not have been a good decision due to high trees at the departure end. In the last 50 feet, I attempted to the turn the plane around and it skidded. The left wheel caught the edge of the bank and the plane flipped once and landed upside down....

A witness at the airport reported:

...Aircraft passed center taxiway approx 10-15 ft above runway with partial power (est 1000-1200 RPM) was hot, reduced power and landed more than 2/3 down runway...Lost sight of A/C...Heard tire squeal and heard metal crunching sound....

According to the airport facility directory, runway 34R was 3010 feet long, 40 feet wide, and had an asphalt surface.

The pilot had received his private pilot certificate on September 1, 1994. According to the NTSB Accident Report Form, he had a total time of 56 hours with 6 hours in the Cessna 172.