- Date
- July 31, 2005, 16:00 local (Aug 1, 2005, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fairbanks, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6946CCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20050731017429A
- Case key
- 62119
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 compensation for the gusty wind conditions, which resulted is a loss of directional control during landing. A factor associated with the accident was the gusty wind condition.
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 solo private pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported he was practicing wheel landings. He stated that on the accident landing, the airplane bounced, and a gust of wind lifted the left wing. The right wing struck the ground, followed by the propeller and the left wing. Both wings sustained structural damage.
Factual narrative
On July 31, 2005, about 1600 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Cessna 170B airplane, N6946C, sustained substantial damage following a loss of control while landing at the Fairbanks International Airport, Fairbanks, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal local flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
In a written statement provided to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) dated August 3, the pilot reported that he was practicing wheel landings at the airport when the airplane "bounced," and a gust of wind lifted the left wing. He wrote the right wing "hit the pavement, followed by the prop and left wing." The airplane sustained structural damage to both wings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6946C
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25522
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James P. Orr
- Registered owner
- Linda J. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PAFA · Fairbanks, AK
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 198 total · 78 in this make and model · 23 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 7 knots, gusting 15
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 N6946C · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.