CHI85FET01

1985-05-03 · VALPARAISO, Indiana, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport VPZ

Aircraft involved

N23388 Cessna 172 M Minor

Factual narrative

THE PLT DEPARTED THE GRIFFITH ARPT ON A LOCAL FLT & PROCEEDED TO TWO OTHER ARPTS TO PRACTICE LANDINGS. HE FLEW TO THE STARKE COUNTY ARPT & MADE 5 OR 6 LANDINGS, THEN WENT TO THE PORTER COUNTY ARPT. AFTER THE 5TH TOUCH-&-GO, HE PREPARED TO TAKEOFF BY RETRACTING THE FLAPS & INSURING THAT HE HAD MIXTURE RICH, CARB HEAT OFF & THROTTLE FULL FORWARD. HOWEVER, AFTER LIFT-OFF, THE ACFT DID NOT SEEMED TO CLIMB NORMALLY. HE RECHECKED ALL CONTROLS & EVERYTHING SEEMED TO BE IN THE NORMAL POSITION, BUT THE ACFT WAS NOT CLIMBING. BEFORE HE INITIATED AN EMERG LANDING, THE RGT WING STRUCK THE GROUND & THE ACFT CRASHED. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_CHI85FET01.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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