- Date
- May 3, 1997, 18:20 local (May 4, 1997, 02:20 UTC)
- Place
- Dillingham, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1828CCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 29, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970503011049A
- Case key
- 3000
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 wind conditions and failure to maintain directional control of the airplane. A factor relating to the accident was: the crosswind.
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 pilot was landing a tailwheel/tundra-tire equipped airplane on runway 19. During the landing roll, the pilot encountered a crosswind. The airplane began to ground loop toward the right edge of the runway. The pilot applied left brake pressure, but the airplane continued to the right. The right main gear strut then broke, just above the right wheel axle. The right tire struck the right side of the airplane, buckling the right side of the fuselage. The wind was reported to be from about 230 degrees at 10 knots.
Factual narrative
On May 3, 1997, about 1820 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Cessna 170B, N1828C, crashed during landing at the Dillingham Airport, Dillingham, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane, operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The certificated commercial pilot, and two passengers, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Dillingham, about 1500.
On May 3, 1997, at 1840, the pilot reported in a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), that he was landing on runway 19 at Dillingham. During the landing roll, the pilot encountered a slight crosswind. The airplane began to ground loop toward the right edge of the runway. The pilot applied left brake pressure, but the airplane continued to the right. The right main gear strut then broke, just above the right wheel axle. The right tire struck the right side of the airplane, buckling the right side of the fuselage.
At 1748, an Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR) at Dillingham was reporting in part: Wind, 231 degrees (magnetic) at 10 knots; visibility, 25 statute miles with showers in the vicinity; clouds, 3,000 feet scattered, 7,000 feet broken; temperature, 53 degrees F; dew point, 34 degrees F; altimeter, 30.04 inHg.
A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), pilot/operator report, (NTSB form 6120.1/2), was not returned by the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1828C
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25972
- Engine
- Continental C-145-2, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Melvin Abrams
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- DLG
- Airport
- DLG · Dillingham, runway 19, 6,404 × 150 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
- 57
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DLG
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 N1828C · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.