| Crash location | 34.654444°N, 112.419723°W |
| Nearest city | Prescott, AZ
34.540024°N, 112.468502°W 8.4 miles away |
| Tail number | N13514 |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 29 Oct 2001 |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 172M |
| Additional details: | None |
On October 29, 2001, about 1423 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172M, N13514, collided with an airport sign during landing at the Ernest A. Love Field, Prescott, Arizona. The airplane was operated by Sky School, Inc., in Prescott, and it was substantially damaged. Neither the certified flight instructor (CFI) nor his student was injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight. The flight was performed under 14 CFR Part 91. The airplane departed from Prescott about 1402.
According to the CFI, during the accident flight he was providing primary flight instruction to his student, whom he had recently soloed. The purpose of the lesson was, in part, to teach crosswind takeoffs and landings. To accomplish this, the CFI selected runway 21R for use because the local wind was from about 130 degrees at 8 knots.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that the airplane was cleared for takeoff from runway 21L. The airplane remained in the traffic pattern and made a touch-and-go landing on runway 21R about 1407. About 1413 and 1419, the airplane was cleared for additional touch-and-go landings on runway 21R.
The CFI reported that 20 degrees of flaps were used during the touch-and-go landings. The airplane touched down on runway 21R's centerline about 1423. Immediately thereafter, it began drifting right. The CFI took over the controls from his student and applied left aileron and rudder correction to return back to the runway centerline. According to the CFI, even using full flight control inputs, the airplane continued skidding right. Seconds thereafter, the airplane started a quick left turn toward the left side of the runway. The CFI indicated that he attempted to redirect the airplane back to the right, but it was "too little too late." The airplane's right main landing gear collided with a taxiway sign.
The CFI reported that he then took off, evaluated the damage, and performed a low pass over runway 12. At 1437, the FAA cleared the airplane to land, and about 3 minutes later it touched down on the runway. As the airplane decelerated it veered off the runway to the right, hit another sign, and came to rest in the grass between runway 12 and taxiway echo.
The CFI's improper remedial action and failure to maintain directional control during landing in a strong crosswind condition.