NTSB Identification: WPR11LA201
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, April 16, 2011 in Payson, AZ
Aircraft: CESSNA 172S, registration: N1835U
Injuries: 1 Minor.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On April 16, 2011, about 0900 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172S, N1835U, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain following a touch-and-go landing at Payson Airport (PAN), Payson, Arizona. The certificated private pilot, the sole person on board, received minor injuries. The instructional flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.

According to information provided by the pilot and his flight school, he was enrolled in an ab-initio flight training program at Deer Valley Airport (DVT), Phoenix, Arizona. He obtained his private pilot certificate in March 2011, and had accumulated about 110 hours of total flight experience. The pilot had planned the 50-mile flight from DVT to PAN as a means to build time towards meeting the requirements for his instrument rating, and before departure, the airplane was topped off with fuel. During the descent for landing at PAN, the pilot enriched the mixture from its cruise setting, and entered the traffic pattern for a touch-and-go on runway 24. He used 30 degrees of flaps for the landing. After the touchdown, he retracted the flaps to 0 degrees, added power, and lifted off.

The pilot stated that the airplane was under performing on the climbout, so he enriched the mixture. That did not rectify the problem, and he heard the engine make "popping" sounds. He observed that despite the application of full throttle, the airspeed was lower than normal, and the tachometer indicated about 1,800 rpm, instead of the target value of about 2,300 rpm. The pilot began a right turn back towards the airport, and lowered the nose to increase the airspeed, but the pilot stated that the airplane did not seem to accelerate. He also stated that he heard the stall warning horn during the attempted turnback.

According to information provided by first responders and a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the airplane impacted trees and terrain about 3,500 feet northwest of the departure end of runway 24, and came to rest upright. There was no debris path, and nearly all trees and vegetation surrounding the airplane were undisturbed. The right wing was rotated about 90 degrees tip-forward, and the left wing was bent tip-down about 15 degrees. The fuselage, engine cowling, and both wings were deformed by crush damage. The spinner was crushed, and the two-blade metal propeller exhibited tip curling, and some chordwise scoring. The cockpit hour meter registered 3,477.1 hours after the accident. First responders reported that the right fuel tank appeared nearly empty, but the fuel line had been breached. They reported that the left tank was about 1/2 full.

The elevation of DVT was 1,478 feet above mean sea level (msl), the elevation of PAN was 5,157 feet msl, and the traffic pattern altitude of PAN was specified as 6,200 feet msl. PAN was a non-towered airport, and the runway 24 dimensions were reported as 5,500 by 75 feet.

The PAN 0855 automated weather observation included calm winds; visibility 10 miles, clear skies; temperature 18 degrees C; dew point -16 degrees C; and an altimeter setting of 30.08 inches of mercury. Based on those conditions, the density altitude of the airport was calculated to be approximately 6,200 feet.

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