NTSB Factual Report

On July 4, 2003, at 1415 central daylight time, a Cessna 175, N7256M, operated by a private pilot was destroyed when it struck a barbed wire fence and impacted terrain during a go-around on runway 36 (2,500 feet by 180 feet, turf) at a private airstrip near Wessington Springs, South Dakota. A post-impact fire destroyed the airplane. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was being conducted without a flight plan. The pilot and passenger reported no injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight departed Myers Field Airport (27D) near Canby, Minnesota at 1305.

In his written statement, the pilot stated:

The aircraft departed Canby, MN at 13:05 for Wessington

Springs, SD. When landing the touchdown point was a little

long needing either braking or going around. When attempting

to go around the wheels touched the top of a fence at the end

of the runway and the plane went into some brush. The plane

was exited and a fire burned it.

The pilot reported a total flight time of 178 hours of which 105.7 hours were in the same make and model as the accident aircraft.

Recorded weather at Huron Regional Airport, near Huron, South Dakota, located 26 miles north east of Wessington Springs, was: Wind 270 degrees at 6 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; temperature 28 degrees C; dew point 18 degrees C; Altimeter 29.89 inches of mercury.

The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot not obtaining/maintaining clearance from the barbed wire fence during the go-around. Factors to the accident were the fence, and the brush.