CHI00LA017

Factual narrative

On October 27, 1999, at 1605 central daylight time, a Cessna 172, N52569, was substantially damaged when it hit the airport fence and trees during a go-around. The 14 CFR Part 91 pleasure flight departed Houston County Airport, Caledonia, Minnesota, at 1555 with Waukon Municipal Airport as the destination. The airplane drifted during landing and the pilot attempted a go-around, but impacted the fence and trees that paralleled the runway. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The pilot reported he flew over the airport to determine which runway to use based on the winds. He chose to land on runway 25. At 1645, the winds at Decorah Municipal Airport (DEH) located about 12 nautical miles to the west were reported as 150 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 22 knots. The pilot reported he attempted to land but did a go-around. The pilot executed an aborted landing on his second attempt to land. Concerning his second attempt to land, the pilot reported, "This time I knew that I would need to press hard on the rudder so I moved my feet down, pressed hard on the rudder and slipped the plane down to the runway. After I landed, I kept pressing hard on the pedals thinking that I was on the brakes. Later, after I thought about the accident I realized that I did not have my feet on the brakes. I kept pressing hard and the plane was not slowing down and was being blown off the runway to the North. I then decided to try and go around again-so I gave it full power and lifted off, but I was blown right into the fence. The plane kept rising but then started to stall so I brought it back down and went through two more fences and I hit a pole which took off the end of the wing before hitting a road bank head-on which stopped the plane." The pilot reported he flew over the airport to determine which runway to use based on the winds. He chose to land on runway 25. At 1645, the winds at an airport 12 nautical miles to the west were reported as 150 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 22 knots. The pilot reported he attempted to land but did a go-around. The pilot executed an aborted landing on his second attempt to land. Concerning his second attempt to land, he reported, 'This time I knew that I would need to press hard on the rudder so I moved my feet down, pressed hard on the rudder and slipped the plane down to the runway. After I landed, I kept pressing hard on the pedals thinking that I was on the brakes.' He reported, 'I kept pressing hard and the plane was not slowing down and was being blown off the runway to the North. I then decided to try and go around again-so I gave it full power and lifted off, but I was blown right into the fence. The plane kept rising but then started to stall so I brought it back down and went through two more fences and I hit a pole which took off the end of the wing before hitting a road bank head-on which stopped the plane.' Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12