- Date
- September 19, 2009, 09:25 local (15:25 UTC)
- Place
- Princeton, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N52PHAviat A-1C-180
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 3, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20090919049899A
- Case key
- 74775
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 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 pilot stated that during landing the airplane's tail began to "oscillate" when it contacted the runway. The airplane then drifted off the right side of the runway and the right main landing gear wheel encountered the adjacent terrain. The airplane nosed over and sustained substantial damage that included wrinkling of the left wing skin, damage to the vertical stabilizer, and damage to the left side of the fuselage near the windshield. The pilot and pilot-rated passenger were uninjured. No mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation were noted.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that during landing on runway 15 (3,900 feet by 75 feet, asphalt) the airplane's tail began to "oscillate" when it contacted the runway. The airplane then "drifted" off the right side of the runway where the right main landing gear wheel encountered the adjacent terrain. The airplane nosed over and sustained substantial damage that included wrinkling of the left wing skin, damage to the vertical stabilizer, and damage to the left side of the fuselage near the windshield. The pilot and pilot rated passenger were uninjured. No mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation were noted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N52PH
- Reported as
- Aviat A-1C-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3043
- Airframe hours
- 158.6
- Engine
- Lycoming o-360-A1P, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pilot
- Registered owner
- Business Solutions Engineering Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 5, 2009
- Departed
- FCM · Eden Prarie, MN
- Destination
- PNM · Princeton, MN
- Airport
- PNM · Princeton Municipal, runway 15, 3,900 × 75 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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 11, 2008
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 639 total · 46 in this make and model · 554 as pilot in command · 54 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- PNM
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 10, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 639 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.