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Atlas / NTSB / LAX94LA086

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event LAX94LA086

1993-12-30 EL MONTE, California, United States Airport · EMT None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N7553E

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA 172N

Year of manufacture

1978 · 15 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19790118

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AA2F62

Registrant of record

POLLEY TERRI J

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S DELAYED DECISION TO ABORT THE TAKEOFF AND IMPROPER USE OF THE AIRPLANE'S THROTTLE.

Factual narrative

On December 30, 1993, at 1230 hours Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172N, N7553E, collided with the airport perimeter fence and a tree after experiencing an on-round loss of control during an aborted takeoff from runway 19 at the El Monte Airport, El Monte, California. The certificated private pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings at the time. The airplane, operated by Aero Association of CalTech, Inc., Pasadena, California, was substantially damaged. The pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The winds were reported calm. The pilot indicated that he had landed, configured the airplane for takeoff while rolling, and added full power. The pilot stated the airplane's acceleration appeared slow and did not reach the fifty-seven (57) knots rotation speed as anticipated. The pilot decided to abort the takeoff at a predetermined GO/NO-GO point located about 1,000 feet from the runway's departure end. When the pilot applied the airplane's brakes, the airplane swerved to the left and entered a newly resurfaced taxiway. The airplane slid off the taxiway's left shoulder adjacent to the runway's departure end and struck the fence and tree. According to the pilot, the left main landing gear tire left solid skid marks on the runway and the right main landing gear tire left intermittent skid marks. Witnesses told National Transportation Safety Board investigators they heard the airplane accelerating after hearing the tires begin to squeal during brake application. The witnesses also said the pilot did not fully close the throttle until the airplane was about 150 feet from the departure end of runway 19. THE PILOT ABORTED TAKEOFF DURING A TOUCH-AND-GO MANEUVER AND OVERRAN THE RUNWAY AT THE DEPARTURE END. WITNESSES HEARD THE ENGINE ACCELERATE DURING THE ABORT ATTEMPT. THE PILOT APPLIED THE BRAKES BEFORE RETARDING THE THROTTLE. THE AIRPLANE LOST TRACTION WHEN THE BRAKING ACTION COULD NOT OVERCOME THE ENGINE POWER WHICH EXTENDED THE LANDING ROLL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1993_LAX94LA086.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗