The NTSB released its final report last week on the October 2002 midair crash of two Cessna 172s in Coral Springs, Fla., in which two people died. The probable cause of the crash, according to the safety board, was “the failure of the dual students and flight instructors on both [aircraft ] to see and avoid each other, which resulted in a midair collision.” Both were training flights that originated from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, and each had a private-rated student and an instructor aboard. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plans were filed for either flight. One student was practicing commercial maneuvers in a practice area at about 2,000 feet when “all of a sudden, an airplane appeared very close, in the right corner of their airplane’s windshield, having come from behind the blind spot created by their airplane’s right wing,” according to the report. Both pilots took evasive action, but both apparently turned to the right. The airplanes collided. The commercial student and his instructor entered a spin, but were able to recover and make a safe emergency landing. The other airplane was destroyed on impact, killing the instructor and the student, who was practicing for his instrument rating.
Failure To See And Avoid Blamed In Florida Midair
Key Takeaways:
- A 2002 midair collision between two Cessna 172 training flights in Coral Springs, Florida, resulted in two fatalities and was attributed by the NTSB to the failure of all four pilots (students and instructors) to see and avoid each other.
- Both aircraft were conducting training flights under visual meteorological conditions from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, with no flight plans filed, when the incident occurred.
- One aircraft, carrying an instructor and an instrument rating student, was destroyed on impact, killing both occupants; the other, with a commercial student and instructor, recovered from a spin and made a safe emergency landing after both planes attempted right-turn evasive actions.
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