Accident Brief: Fatal Cessna 172 Skyhawk Crash In Massachusetts

After practicing maneuvers during the instructional flight, the flight instructor and student pilot approached the airport for landing. Witnesses and airport surveillance video indicated that the airplane entered the landing flare, but continued to float down the runway a significant distance, touching down about 2,800 ft down the 3,503-ft-long runway. The pilots then initiated a takeoff (touch-and-go). Although the published airport traffic pattern for the runway indicated left turns, the airplane performed a climb in a steep right bank before slowing and entering a spiraling decent toward a grass area near the airport terminal building. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. It is likely that the flight instructor allowed the airplane to exceed its critical angle of attack during a turning initial climb after a touch-and-go landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and impact with terrain. Although it could not be determined who was flying the airplane at the time of the accident, the flight instructor is ultimately responsible for the safety of the flight.