- Date
- August 6, 2009, 14:40 local (19:40 UTC)
- Place
- Aurora, IL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9793ACessna 170A
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 19, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 74485
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 maintain directional control during the landing.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The private pilot executed a normal traffic pattern for a "wheels landing" in the conventional landing gear airplane. After touchdown, the pilot applied a "little forward pressure to the yoke to keep the tail up..." The pilot reported the tail encountered a gust of wind from the left and he applied right rudder for correction. Subsequently, the airplane skidded off the left side of the runway and impacted a ditch. The right wing, right horizontal stabilizer, and fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane.
Factual narrative
The private pilot executed a normal traffic pattern for a "wheels landing" in the conventional landing gear airplane. After touchdown, the pilot applied a "little forward pressure to the yoke to keep the tail up..." The pilot reported that the tail encountered a gust of wind from the left and he applied right rudder for correction. Subsequently, the airplane skidded off the left side of the runway and impacted a ditch. The right wing, right horizontal stabilizer, and fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9793A
- Reported as
- Cessna 170A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19254
- Airframe hours
- 2,966
- Engine
- Cont Motor C145 SERIES, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 2, 2008
- Departed
- C77 · Poplar Grove, IL
- Destination
- ARR · Aurora, IL
- Airport
- ARR · Aurora Municipal Airport, runway 36, 3,198 × 75 ft, concrete
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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 18, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 358 total · 138 in this make and model · 249 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 19, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 473 KB in all.
Other investigations on N9793A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.