Cessna 172P accident near Chester, South Carolina, August 19, 2006
On August 19, 2006 at about 10:45 pm local time, a Cessna 172P, registered N51887, was substantially damaged in an accident near Chester, South Carolina (Chester Municipal Airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The CFI's failure to initiate a go-around when he noticed the flight was high and fast during the approach resulting in the flight landing long, overrunning the runway, and colliding with trees. Factors in the accident were a tail wind and a wet runway.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 19, 2006 · about 10:45 pm local time
- Place
- Chester, South Carolina · Chester Municipal Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172P · all 172Ps on the register
- Registration
- N51887 · no longer on the register · serial 17274374
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The certified flight instructor (CFI) stated that while providing instruction to his student he initiated a simulated engine failure. The student selected an airport just below them to do a forced landing. The student turned early for the final as they approached runway 5 and the CFI took control of the airplane and put it into a slip to lose the excess altitude. A witness saw the airplane touchdown at high speed with only a quarter of the runway remaining and observed the airplane engulfed with a heavy mist of water spray as it left the pavement into the grassy end of the runway. The witness then observed the airport weather station to show winds from 240 degrees at 8 knots. The pilot had stated that the airplane was operating normally before the accident.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Flight instructor
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 522 hours in all; 350 in this make and model; 220 in the last 90 days; 60 in the last 30 days; 475 as pilot in command; 235 on instruments
- Last flight review: May 1, 2006
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,650 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, July 1, 2006; 49 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,400 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-D2J (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Rock Hill Aviation, LLC
The flight
- Departed from: UZA Rock Hill SC at 9:30 pm
- Destination: 9A6 Chester SC
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 05, 4,998 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 070° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 11,000 ft
- Temperature: 88°F (31°C), dew point 70°F (21°C)
- Altimeter: 29.97 inHg
- Observation at 10:54 pm from UZA, 13 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.