One sunny afternoon a member in my flying club had booked our Cessna 172 to take two neighbours for their first ride in an aeroplane.
During the landing roll-out the aircraft suddenly veered off the runway at almost 90°, for undetermined reasons. Parallel to the runway – but a fairly large distance therefrom – is a stream, a row of trees and a trunk road (in that order).
Instead of letting the aircraft come to a standstill in the safety zone (which would have been perfectly possible), the pilot panicked, applied full throttle and yanked the aircraft off the ground. The flaps remained fully deployed, which in a C172 is Not A Recommended Thing.
Nonetheless, it managed to get airborne, flew over the stream, went straight through the trees and over the road (where it would have hit a bus or a lorry, if one had been there). According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft managed to gain altitude at an angle of attack which is not covered in the POH. The flaps remained fully deployed all the time. It then staggered around the impromptu circuit and made a “normal” landing, the passengers disappearing with very pale faces and the pilot voluntary surrendering his licence a few days later.
Due to the close encounter with the local flora, the aircraft required one new wing, one new strut, a new engine, a new propeller, new cowlings and two new wheel spats before it could be returned to service many months later.
The Cessna 172 may be the proverbial spam can, but I’ve always liked them and I have more than 100 hours in this particular example. I positively adore them after this incident.
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