N3773L

On October 16, 1995, at 1630 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172G, N3773L, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain during takeoff at the Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport (WBW), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, for the instructional flight that originated at WBW. No flight plan had been filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

In the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the flight instructor stated that the student pilot had made two takeoffs and landings without incident. The flight instructor further stated:

Upon our third takeoff, after we had started to accelerate, the student said "what's up with these ailerons?" and I said "they're good, we have a cross wind," just as we lifted off. At this point the aircraft started to roll to the left, although we had right aileron and right rudder in. I yelled, "I got it" and tried to straighten the aircraft out but could not. Shortly thereafter our left wing hit the dirt to the left of the runway and [we] started to "cartwheel."

The flight instructor also stated in the report:

Aborted takeoff when student mentioned something felt wrong with his controls. Although there was probably nothing wrong, I should have just returned back to the ramp.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector's report, examination of the wreckage revealed no mechanical problems with the airplane.

The student pilot had a total of 27 hours of flight experience, all in the Piper Tri-Pacer. This was his first flight in any Cessna airplane.

The flight instructor was initially certificated as an instructor on October 16, 1995. This was his first flight as an instructor.

Winds at a nearby airport were reported to be from 250 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 24.