- Date
- August 14, 2002, 20:00 local (Aug 15, 2002, 04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Soldotna, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2558DCessna 170
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03
- FAA report
- 20020814024569A
- Case key
- 55516
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, and his failure to maintain directional control of the airplane. A factor contributing to the accident was the pilot's excessive braking which resulted in a nose over.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The private certificated pilot was conducting touch and go landings to an asphalt surfaced runway. The pilot said the airplane touched down hard and bounced, and the propeller contacted the runway surface. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway, and the pilot applied the brakes. The airplane then nosed over, receiving damage to both wings, the vertical stabilizer, and rudder. The wind was calm.
Factual narrative
On August 14, 2002, about 2000 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 170 airplane, N2558D, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over following a loss of control while landing at the Soldotna Airport, Soldotna, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Soldotna Airport about 1930.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on August 14, the pilot reported that he was conducting touch and go landings on runway 25. He said the airplane touched down hard and bounced, and the propeller contacted the runway surface. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway, and the pilot applied the brakes. The airplane then nosed over, receiving damage to both wings, the vertical stabilizer, and rudder.
At 1955, an automated weather observation system (AWOS) at Soldotna was reporting in part: Wind, calm; visibility, 10 statute miles; clouds and sky condition, clear; temperature, 64 degrees F; dew point, 39 degrees F; altimeter, 30.36 inHg.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2558D
- Reported as
- Cessna 170
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20710
- Airframe hours
- 3,005
- Engine
- Continental O-300A, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David Spence
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 20, 2001 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- PASX · Soldotna, AK
- Airport
- PASX · Soldotna, runway 25, 5,000 × 130 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- October 26, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 151 total · 1 in this make and model · 80 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.36 inHg
- Observed at
- PASX
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N2558D · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.