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WPR21LA193

2021-05-10 · Chandler, Arizona, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport P19

Current FAA registration · N47AF

Make / Model
CESSNA 172R
Year of manufacture
2001 · 20 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20010502
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A5BEC7

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to locate the airport which resulted in an approach to a road and subsequent collision with powerlines during a go-around in low light conditions.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, she was on approach to land at a private airpark while nearing the end of civil twilight. She keyed the radio microphone multiple times during the approach but was unsuccessful to activate the airpark’s high intensity lighting. During the approach she initiated a go around when she realized that she had aligned with a road instead of the runway. During the go around, the airplane struck powerlines, impacted terrain, and came to rest nose down against a fence. The right wing and the fuselage were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Members of the airpark added that shortly after the accident, the airpark’s runway lights were activated and verified to be operational. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Identification/recognition-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Low light-Effect on personnel
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Wire-Effect on equipment

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_WPR21LA193.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers