AOPA’S AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE RELEASES EARLY ANALYSIS: FLIGHT TRAINING ACCIDENT N97883 VIDEO

On October 6, 2022, a Cessna 172 crashed during a training flight at the Newport News–Williamsburg International Airport (KPHF) in Newport News, Virginia. No one on the ground was injured. Sadly, the certificated flight instructor died in the accident. A student pilot and another student onboard the Cessna were taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

The Cessna 172 took off from Runway 20. At 100 feet—about 80 seconds into the takeoff—the aircraft reportedly pitched up aggressively, lost lift, and crashed 200 feet from the departure end.

“In Early Analysis: N97883, the AOPA Air Safety Institute wants to help pilots understand what is known about the accident as we look at factors that are likely to be a subject of the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)," said AOPA's ASI senior vice president Richard McSpadden.

McSpadden continued, “In general aviation, we experience about 15 to 16 fatal training accidents per year. That’s a relatively small figure given the number of flight hours that we conduct safely. We fly some 6.5 million flight hours a year in training flights—that equates to more than 10 million operations, including takeoffs and landings in training scenarios.”

Early Analysisvideos provide an initial assessment of prominent mishaps that generate large public interest and may indicate important safety lessons for the general aviation community.

The video also offers flight instructors practical guidance to help prevent a similar scenario when giving flight instruction.

View the video here.

View other Early Analysis videos here.