- Date
- March 29, 1995, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1364DCessna 170A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19950329006009A
- Case key
- 2638
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 failure to correct for torque/p factor when adding engine power for the go-around maneuver. The pilot's misjudged flare, delayed go-around, and lack of total experience were factors in the accident.
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 student pilot was practicing touch and go landings at a gravel airstrip that had snowberms along each side of the runway. During the ninth approach for landing, the pilot flared too high and ballooned upward. He added power to arrest the descent, then, decided to begin a go-around. The pilot added full power and the airplane veered to the left. The pilot then banked the airplane to the right and the right main landing gear struck the snowberm along the left side of the runway. The pilot had accrued 56 total flight hours with 4.3 hours as solo flight.
Factual narrative
On March 29, 1995, about 1700 Alaska standard time, a wheel equipped Cessna 170A, N1364D, collided with a snow bank during a go-around at Goose Bay Airport, about 8 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area instructional flight when the accident occurred. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, received substantial damage. The pilot, holder of a student pilot certificate and the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Lake Hood Strip, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1527.
The pilot reported that he was performing solo touch and go landings on runway 25. During the ninth landing approach, he flared too high and the airplane ballooned upward. The pilot added engine power to extend the landing touchdown. He then decided to go-around and added full power. The airplane veered to the left and collided with a snow bank along the left edge of the runway. The airplane received damage to the right landing gear and right wing.
The pilot indicated that his total aeronautical experience consisted of 56 hours. He had accrued 40.3 hours in the accident aircraft make and model, with 4.3 hours as pilot-in-command (solo).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1364D
- Reported as
- Cessna 170A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19940
- Airframe hours
- 1,813
- Engine
- Continental C145-2, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Paul Spiro
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 2, 1995 · 34 hours before
- Departed
- Z41 · AK
- Destination
- Z40
- Airport
- Z40 · Goose Bay, runway 25, 3,000 × 75 ft, gravel
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 56 total · 40 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F
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 N1364D · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.