N986AC

On September 17, 2004, at 1025 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172L, N986AC, registered to and operated by Wright Flight, Inc., collided with the ground and nosed over short of runway 20 at First Flight Airport, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The private pilot received serious injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Dare County Regional Airport, Manteo, North Carolina about 1000.

The pilot stated he flew four to five minutes to First Flight Airport and entered the traffic pattern for runway 20 to conduct touch-and-go landings. The pilot stated he conducted seven or eight touch-and-go landings and noticed "the wind was changing but always favoring [runway] 20." The pilot stated he was on final approach for his last touch-and-go about 70 feet above the ground when "the airplane had a sinking feeling, more than I had ever felt before." The pilot stated he added power, and the airplane continued to sink uncontrollably. The airplane collided with the ground, then nosed over into a ditch.

Examination revealed the airplane came to rest inverted approximately 90 feet from its initial touchdown point, and approximately 400 feet short of the runway 20 threshold. The engine mounts were separated, the fuselage was crushed and buckled aft of the firewall and aft of the cabin, and the empennage was buckled and partially separated. The flaps remained attached, and the actuator was found in a position consistent with a 20-degree flaps-down setting. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunction with the airplane. A review of recorded weather data for First Flight Airport revealed at 1021 winds were from 150 degrees at 8 knots, direction variable between 121 and 181 degrees, sky condition clear. At 1100, winds were from 150 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 15 knots, direction variable between 131 degrees and 201 degrees, sky condition scattered at 3000, 5000, and 9000. A review of satellite imagery revealed the presence of cumulus clouds.