Crash location | 38.968334°N, 104.807778°W |
Nearest city | Colorado Springs, CO
38.833882°N, 104.821363°W 9.3 miles away |
Tail number | N97LP |
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Accident date | 24 Mar 2012 |
Aircraft type | Cessna 172P |
Additional details: | None |
The pilot reported that he rotated the airplane at 55 knots and it immediately started to drift. He heard the stall warning horn so he lowered the nose, and the airplane subsequently impacted the ground. He pulled the throttle to idle. The airplane was approaching the crossing runway and there was a hump or ditch near the runway edge. He pulled back on the controls to avoid the obstacle, and the airplane became airborne and climbed to about 10 to 15 feet above the ground. The airplane landed hard and bounced. The nose landing gear caught in the dirt and the airplane nosed over which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. The pilot reported that there was no mechanical malfunction or failure of the airplane. The pilot reported that the wind during takeoff was “slightly from the right” at 9 knots gusting to 13 knots.
The pilot did not maintain control of the airplane during takeoff, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose over.