- Date
- May 9, 2005, 21:35 local (May 10, 2005, 05:35 UTC)
- Place
- Homer, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8305ACessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL ANC FSDO 03
- FAA report
- 20050509011819A
- Case key
- 61448
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 flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight during the landing roll, which resulted in a loss of control, and collision with a ditch. A factor associated with the accident was the student pilot's failure to maintain directional control.
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 certificated flight instructor was providing flight instruction to the student pilot/owner who was practicing touch and go landings on runway 21. The instructor said that the wind was from 230 degrees at 11 knots. As the airplane touched down it veered slightly to the right, and the student corrected for the swerve. A gust of wind from the right then lifted the right wing, and the airplane began to veer to the left. The student applied right aileron and right rudder, but the airplane departed off the left side of the paved runway onto an area of grass. The instructor applied engine power in an attempt to gain control of the airplane, but the airplane collided with a ditch that paralleled the runway. The airplane received structural damage to the right main landing gear and fuselage, and the right wingtip. The instructor indicated that the student pilot had accrued about 79 hours of instructional flight.
Factual narrative
On May 9, 2005, about 2135 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 170B airplane, N8305A, sustained substantial damage when it veered off the runway, and collided with a ditch during the landing roll at the Homer Airport, Homer, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area instructional flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the student pilot/owner, who was accompanied by a flight instructor. The student pilot and the certificated flight instructor were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Homer Airport about 2000. No flight plan was filed, nor was one required.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on May 9, the flight instructor reported that he was providing flight instruction to the student who was practicing touch and go landings on runway 21 at Homer. The instructor said that the wind was from 230 degrees at 11 knots. As the airplane touched down it veered slightly to the right, and the student corrected for the swerve. A gust of wind from the right then lifted the right wing, and the airplane began to veer to the left. The student applied right aileron and right rudder, but the airplane departed off the left side of the paved runway onto an area of grass. The instructor applied engine power in an attempt to gain control of the airplane, but the airplane collided with a ditch that paralleled the runway. The airplane received structural damage to the right main landing gear and fuselage, and the right wingtip. The instructor indicated that the student pilot had accrued about 79 hours of instructional flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8305A
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25157
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gary D. Nelson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2005
- Departed
- PAHO · Homer, AK
- Airport
- PAHO · Homer, runway 21, 6,701 × 150 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 1, 2005
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,557 total · 30 in this make and model · 1,479 as pilot in command · 48 in the last 90 days · 31 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 79 total · 79 in this make and model · 17 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 230° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.