- Date
- February 26, 2024, 14:50 local (20:50 UTC)
- Place
- Clarion, IA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N35719Cessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Des Moines FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240226001469A
- Case key
- 193850
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 flare in a crosswind with gusts.
Findings · 4
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 during landing at the destination airport, with the left and right main landing gear on the runway and the nose wheel elevated for the flare, she felt a gust of wind that “push[ed] the airplane suddenly to the right.” The pilot attempted to perform a go-around, however the airplane bounced twice, exited the runway to the right, impacted a dirt field, nosed over, and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, both wings, and the empennage. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. At the time of the accident, the pilot was landing on runway 31 with wind 270° at 23 knots, and with gusts from 30 to 35 knots. The pilot further reported that the accident could have been prevented by having “better situational awareness” of the wind conditions at the destination airport.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N35719
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (I)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17256932
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 5,447.7
- Engine
- Lycoming Engines O-320-E2D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 16, 2024
- Departed
- CBF · Council Bluffs, IA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CAV · Clarion Muni, runway 14/32, 3,455 × 60 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 24
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 30, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 102 total · 102 in this make and model · 7 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 24 knots, gusting 32
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.35 inHg
- Observed at
- KCAV
- METAR
- KCAV 262055Z AUTO 24024G32KT 10SM CLR 24/M02 A2935 RMK A01
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 16, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.1 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.