- Date
- October 4, 2003, 11:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Starkville, MS
- Injuries
- 5 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N77NPCessna 180K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 28, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Jackson FSDO
- FAA report
- 20031004023489A
- Case key
- 58091
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 compensate for a crosswind condition that resulted in the loss of directional control during a landing. A factor was the crosswind 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
Upon arriving at the destination airport, the pilot established a visual approach to land on runway 18. The reported prevailing winds were 260 degrees at 4 knots. According to the pilot, while landing on runway 18, the right wing came up and the airplane ground looped. The pilot recalled that the left wing and stabilizer struck the ground as the airplane gyrated during the ground loop. A visual examination of the airplane revealed damage to both components. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane during the attempted landing. According to the pilot, he had accumulated about 250 flight hours in the Cessna 180K airplane. According to the Cessna 180K Pilot Operating Handbook, the demonstrated crosswind component is 12 knots.
Factual narrative
On October 4, 2003, at 1100 central daylight time, a Cessna 180K, N77NP, registered to and operated by the private pilot, ground looped during landing at the George M. Bryan Airport in Starkville, Mississippi. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The pilot and four passengers were not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight originated from Madison, Mississippi, on October 4, 2003 at 1015.
Upon arriving at the destination airport, the pilot established a visual approach to land on runway 18. The reported prevailing winds were 260 degrees at 4 knots. According to the pilot, while landing on runway 18, the right wing came up and the airplane ground looped. The pilot recalled that the left wing and stabilizer struck the ground as the airplane gyrated during the ground loop. A visual examination of the airplane revealed damage to both components.
The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane during the attempted landing. According to the pilot, he had accumulated about 250 flight hours in the Cessna 180K airplane. According to the Cessna 180K Pilot Operating Handbook, the demonstrated crosswind component is 12 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N77NP
- Reported as
- Cessna 180K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18052937
- Airframe hours
- 4,920
- Engine
- Continental O-470-U, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Nolan D. Palmer
- Registered owner
- Nolan Palmer and Company LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 27, 2003 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- MBO · Madison, MS
- Destination
- STF · Starkville, MS
- Airport
- STFQ · George M. Bryan Airport, runway 18, 5,051 × 100 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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 650 total · 250 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- GTR
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 N77NP · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.