- Date
- January 15, 2013, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Upper Sandusky, OH
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7ZRAviat A-1C-180
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 3, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20130115000089A
- Case key
- 86033
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 while landing in gusty crosswind conditions.
Findings · 3
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 reported that he was practicing touch-and-go landings on runway 36. While on his third approach after making two landings, he noticed that the windsock was now favoring runway 18 and that the wind was gusting. He performed a go-around and made an approach to runway 18. After a conventional (tailwheel) landing, the airplane’s left wing started to rise and the tail swung to the right. The pilot applied left rudder, but the tail continued to the right. The right main gear buckled and the right wing struck the runway. The wing was crushed from the strut to the tip. The pilot did not report any preaccident malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot's accident report, he was practicing touch-and-go landings on runway 36. After making two landings and while on his third approach, he noticed that the wind sock had changed and was now favoring runway 18. He performed a go-around and made an approach to runway 18. The pilot said the wind was gusty and after making a conventional (tail wheel) landing, the left wing started to rise and the tail swung to the right. The pilot applied left rudder, but the tail continued to the right. The right main gear buckled and the right wing struck the runway. The wing was crushed from the strut to the tip.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7ZR
- Reported as
- Aviat A-1C-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3040
- Airframe hours
- 227
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1P, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Samuel A. Ballow
- Registered owner
- Elkhorn Farms and Hatchery, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 22, 2012 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- K17G · Bucyrus, OH
- Destination
- K56D · Upper Sandusky, OH
- Airport
- K56D · Wyandot County Airport, runway 18, 3,997 × 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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 15, 2011
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 568 total · 19 in this make and model · 483 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 28 °F, dew point 18 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- KFDY, 17 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 30, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.0 MB 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.