LAX03LA152

Factual narrative

On May 17, 2003, about 1125 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172N, N739NS, collided with trees during an aborted landing at Payson Airport (PAN) Payson, Arizona. Glendale Aviation LLC was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger sustained minor injuries; two other passengers were not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Glendale Municipal Airport, Glendale, Arizona, about 1040 en route to Payson. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The primary wreckage was at 34 degrees 15 minutes north latitude and 111 degrees 20 minutes west longitude. The pilot reported that he was attempting to land at Payson using runway 24. When he touched down the first time, the airplane bounced back into the air. The pilot remembered applying power and maintaining a nose-high attitude of the airplane to execute an aborted landing, but the airplane would not climb. The pilot did not retract the flaps for the aborted landing. The stall warning horn sounded, and the pilot pushed the yoke forward. The airplane continued drifting to the right of the runway until it impacted trees north of the runway. The pilot stated that he had not landed at Payson before and was unfamiliar with the airport. He also had not considered the element of a high-density altitude condition. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration examined the wreckage at the accident scene. They did not find any discrepancies with the airframe or engine. The flaps and the flap actuator handle were both in the fully extended position. The balked landing procedures Pilot Operating Handbook for the airplane call for the flaps to be immediately retracted to 20 degrees. During an aborted landing attempt following a bounced landing, the airplane drifted off the right side of the runway and collided with trees. The airplane bounced after touchdown, and the pilot attempted to abort the landing; however, he left the flaps down, and maintained the airplane in a nose high attitude. The stall warning horn sounded, and the pilot pushed the yoke forward. The airplane continued drifting to the right of the runway until it impacted trees north of the runway. The pilot was unfamiliar with the airport, and he also had not considered the element of a high-density altitude condition. The balked landing procedures in the Pilot Operating Handbook for the airplane call for the flaps to be immediately retracted to 20 degrees. The density altitude was computed to be 8,098 feet,. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12