Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Cessna 172R Skyhawk, N9526G: Incident occurred September 23, 2019 near Peter O. Knight Airport (KTPF), Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Tampa

Aircraft lost power and crashed in a field. 

Atlas Aviation Tampa Inc

https://registry.faa.gov/N9526G

Date: 23-SEP-19
Time: 18:39:00Z
Regis#: N9526G
Aircraft Make: CESSNA
Aircraft Model: 172
Event Type: INCIDENT
Highest Injury: NONE
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: UNKNOWN
Activity: UNKNOWN
Flight Phase: EN ROUTE (ENR)
Operation: 91
City: TAMPA
State: FLORIDA



TAMPA ― A single-engine plane lost power Monday while flying over the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, forcing the pilot to make a “hard landing” in an empty field, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Chad Chronister said the pilot, a veteran instructor, brought the plane down between subdivisions and a busy toll road and avoided hurting himself or anyone below.

This was the first flight for the Cessna 172R Skyhawk after undergoing “major maintenance,” the sheriff said.

“I think we all should be grateful as rush hour traffic was starting in the area that it was this pilot flying the plane,” Chronister said at a news conference near the landing site, an empty field across from 2210 U.S. 301 S.

The pilot was identified as David Presnell, a flight instructor with Atlas Aviation, a flight training school. The incident started just after 3 p.m. when the plane took off from Peter O. Knight Airport on Davis Islands. About five minutes later and six miles from the airport, trouble started.

“He wasn’t even up in the air for five minutes when he started experiencing a drop in engine (revolutions per minute),” Chronister said. “That immediately went to no engine power ― engine failure. He immediately knew and recognized that he wouldn’t be able to make it back to Peter O. Knight.”

The pilot noticed a vacant parcel to the southwest corner of where U.S. 301 intersects with the expressway. He used a flag flying off a cell phone tower as a windsock to help him judge wind speed and direction. Then he landed the Cessna and hit the brakes “as hard as he could," the sheriff said.

A nearby business saw the plane flying low, without engine power, and called the authorities.

The pilot has been flying since 1992 and has been a flight instructor for the past 4½ years, the sheriff said.

Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.tampabay.com




TAMPA, Florida — No one was hurt when a plane made a hard landing Monday afternoon in a field near the Selmon Expressway.

It happened around 3 p.m. near the Selmon Expressway and U.S. Highway 301 South, according to a news release.

Pilot David Presnell, a flight instructor with Atlas Aviation, took off in his Cessna 172R Skyhawk from Davis Islands and had a sudden power loss in the engine, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

He used a windsock from a cell phone tower to help guide him into the large, grassy field, deputies say. The landing was completed with only minimal damage to the aircraft.

Presnell, who's been piloting aircraft for more than 20 years, was not hurt.

"This is a best case scenario for everyone involved," Sheriff Chad Chronister said in the news release. "The field where the emergency landing happened is not too far from a very busy highway where hundreds of people were beginning their afternoon commute. 

"I believe the decades of experience this flight instructor has and his quick thinking made all the difference."

Story and video ➤ https://www.wtsp.com




A plane made an emergency landing in a field in Hillsborough County, authorities say.

The aircraft reportedly had to make a hard landing in a field across from 2210 US Hwy. 301 S.

The Cessna 172R Skyhawk lost power and crashed around 2:40 p.m.

The pilot was David Presnell, a flight instructor with Atlas Aviation. According to the Sheriff's Office, he took off in a Cessna 172R from Peter O'Knight Airport following maintenance work on the engine of the plane.

After about five minutes in the air, he noticed the RPM dropping and began to experience engine failure.

Presnell has been a pilot for more than 20 years and used a cellphone tower with a flag billowing atop as a windsock to help guide him into a large, grassy field, HCSO said.

He completed the emergency landing with minimal damage to the plane and no injuries to himself or others.

"This is a best case scenario for everyone involved," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. "The field where the emergency landing happened is not too far from a very busy highway where hundreds of people were beginning their afternoon commute. I believe the decades of experience this flight instructor has and his quick thinking made all the difference."

Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.abcactionnews.com

4 comments:

  1. Seriously?
    This was the first flight for the Cessna 172R Skyhawk after undergoing “major maintenance,” the sheriff said.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Assuming "major maintenance" means an engine rebuild / replacement, no one with common sense goes anywhere except in circles over the airport until any issues have had a chance to surface.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ^ Thank you! You are absolutely correct!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, he did a good job of putting it down, anyway.

    ReplyDelete