(May 2011) IN THE MARCH ISSUE OF Flying, On the Record reported on the crash of a Cessna 172S Skyhawk in January 2010, about 20 miles north of Bangor, Maine. The pilot had picked up the brand-new airplane in Independence, Kansas, and flown it to Bangor, where an additional fuel tank was installed for a flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The FAA had issued a special airworthiness certificate allowing the airplane to take off at a maximum gross weight of 3,315 pounds, which is 30 percent greater than normal. The certificate had come with the stipulation that the pilot “avoid moderate to severe turbulence.” The NTSB determined that the airplane was likely “loaded near the very aft end of the envelope” and that “the manufacturer never tested the CG at such an increased weight.”
The purpose of the flight was to deliver the airplane to Russia, and the pilot, who was from the United Kingdom, was anxious to get home because his daughter was scheduled for surgery and his wife had been involved in a minor automobile accident. He was very experienced, with commercial and instrument ratings, more than 14,000 hours total time and 2,000 hours in instrument conditions. Obviously a pilot doesn’t accumulate that kind of experience by being sloppy or taking unnecessary risks.
