NTSB CAROL · Event
Event SEA72DYE22
Registry · N3978S
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA 172E
Year of manufacture
1964 · 8 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR 0-300 SER (145 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19640114
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A4A04B
Registrant of record
ROWLETT CHARLES
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Historical record (pre-1982)
NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.
Aircraft
CESSNA 172 · N3978S
Damage
Substantial
Craft type
Airplane
Classification
Accident
Light condition
Dusk
Weather
VMC
Phase of flight
Cruise — descent (EF)
Operator type
D
Airport
SPANAWAY
Kind of flying
B0
Weather at impact
Sky
UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED
Aircraft history
Serial number
000017251178
Total time
1,896 hrs
Pilot
Certificate
Commercial
Total hours
429
Age
55
Investigator remarks
NITE LDG IN RUTS ON CRUSTED 12IN SNOW CVRD RWY.
Cause factors
- 64/A/33 A PILOT IN COMMAND EXERCISED POOR JUDGMENT Cause — pilot/personnel action
- 80/A/BC A AIRPORTS/AIRWAYS/FACILITIES SNOW ON RUNWAY Cause — pilot/personnel action
Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.
Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket
3 0429.
Source file
NTSB_1972_3_0429.txt.
Modern CAROL record on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Crash Testing and Simulation of a Cessna 172 Aircraft: Pitch Down Impact Onto Soft Soil
During the summer of 2015, NASA Langley Research Center conducted three full-scale crash tests of Cessna 172 (C-172) aircraft at the NASA Langley Landing and Impact Research (LandIR) Facility.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
Simulating the Impact Response of Three Full-Scale Crash Tests of Cessna 172 Aircraft
During the summer of 2015, a series of three full-scale crash tests were performed at the Landing and Impact Research Facility located at NASA Langley Research Center of Cessna 172 aircraft.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Conference paper
Validation of Training Satisfaction Survey
The Training Satisfaction Survey (TSS) was developed as part of a larger project to examine the features of Virtual Reality software and supporting devices as a training program on visual illusions an…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Data in Brief)
Cockpit voice recorder transcript data: Capturing safety voice and safety listening during historic aviation accidents
Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcripts capture audio data within cockpit environments. This aids the investigation of causal factors contributing to aviation accidents by revealing communication and…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Safety Science)
Safety voice and safety listening during aviation accidents: Cockpit voice recordings reveal that speaking-up to power is not enough
Abstract Safety voice is theorised as an important factor for mitigating accidents, but behavioural research during actual hazards has been scant.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2021 · Journal article (JAAER)
Can Backward-Chained, Ab-Initio Pilot Training Decrease Time to First Solo?
Flight simulation has made progressively significant inroads into pilot training at all levels of a pilot’s career – typically starting with training for the Instrument rating in light aircraft and co…
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