Cessna 172R accident near Battle Creek, Michigan, February 13, 2001
On February 13, 2001 at about 5:50 pm local time, a Cessna 172R, registered N975BC, was substantially damaged in an accident near Battle Creek, Michigan (W K Kellogg Airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Aircraft control not maintained by the student pilot during the takeoff roll. Factors to the accident were the student pilot's lack of experience and the snowbank.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 13, 2001 · about 5:50 pm local time
- Place
- Battle Creek, Michigan · W K Kellogg Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172R · all 172Rs on the register
- Registration
- N975BC · registry record · serial 17280046
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings on his second solo flight. After the first landing was completed, the pilot advanced the throttle for the next takeoff roll when the aircraft swerved to the left, impacting a snowbank along the left side of the runway. The pilot reported, "I performed the first circuit [traffic pattern] correctly and placed [landed] the aircraft a little to the left of the centerline. My intention was to do a touch and go. I looked down upon touchdown to give the aircraft full throttle. As I did this I felt the nose shake a little. When I looked up, the tail simultaneously fishtailed to the right." The pilot reported, "I was heading directly for the left side of the runway edge. I tried to correct the situation with right rudder, but my recovery was either not quick enough or I didn't get enough response from the rudder." The pilot stated, "The nose hit the snow immediately at the edge of the runway and sunk in. The rest of the aircraft flipped over the sunken nose wheel."
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
Pilot
- Flight time: 15 hours in all; 15 in this make and model; 15 in the last 90 days; 10 in the last 30 days; 0 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,234 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, January 11, 2001; 34.6 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,457 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-360-L2A (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: BTL Battle Creek MI at 5:42 pm
- Destination: BTL Battle Creek MI
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 23, 10,003 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 200° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 1,700 ft
- Temperature: 34°F (1°C), dew point 28°F (-2°C)
- Altimeter: 30.28 inHg
- Observation at 5:53 pm from BTL
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
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.
Other NTSB records under N975BC the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number CHI01LA092.