20011130031269I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Cessna R172K · Canadian, TX · November 30, 2001

Date: November 30, 2001 · 10:00 local
Place: Canadian, TX
Airport: Splitbranch
Phase of flight: Roll-Out (Fixed Wing)
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N758GR
Reported as: Cessna R172K
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 1,502 total1,502 in this make and model26 in the last 90 days

N758GRRegistration cancelled Jan 27, 2012 · Cessna R172KS/N R1723089 · Built 1979 Airframe modelCessna R172K Engine modelContinental IO-360 seriesReciprocating

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

(-23) Pilot landed at his ranch on a grass strip with a crosswind and drifted off the mowed edge of the strip. He hit a ditch and a berm hidden under the tall grass and bent the nose gear. The aircraft ground looped hitting the left wingtip and the propeller was damaged. The pilot had selected the downwind side of the runway and used minimum flap setting to help control the crosswind. When he flared to land the wind drifted him just off the edge of the mowed surface. There were golfer holes and a ditch in the tall grass which the pilot was not aware of, otherwise he would not have accepted the drift.

As the FAA filed it

(-23) PILOT LANDED AT HIS RANCH ON A GRASS STRIP WITH A CROSSWIND AND DRIFTED OFF THE MOWED EDGE OF THE STRIP. HE HIT A DITCH AND A BERM HIDDEN UNDER THE TALL GRASS AND BENT THE NOSE GEAR. THE AIRCRAFT GROUND LOOPED HITTING THE LEFT WINGTIP AND THE PROPELLER WAS DAMAGED. THE PILOT HAD SELECTED THE DOWNWIND SIDE OF THE RUNWAY AND USED MINIMUM FLAP SETTING TO HELP CONTROL THE CROSSWIND. WHEN HE FLARED TO LAND THE WIND DRIFTED HIM JUST OFF THE EDGE OF THE MOWED SURFACE. THERE WERE GOLFER HOLES AND A DITCH IN THE TALL GRASS WHICH THE PILOT WAS NOT AWARE OF, OTHERWISE HE WOULD NOT HAVE ACCEPTED THE DRIFT.