- Date
- February 21, 2000, 17:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wisconsin Rapid, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N22017Cessna 150H
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 48676
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 student pilot's failure to maintain directional control. Factors were the pilot's lack of total experience and the snowbank.
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
The airplane exited the left side of the runway during takeoff and contacted a snowbank. The student pilot was performing solo takeoff and landing practice during the accident flight. In his written statement, the pilot said that the accident takeoff was his third takeoff. He said that when he was near takeoff speed the, '...tail end of [the] airplane started to fishtail badly....' He said that he attempted to correct and subsequently exited the left side of the runway and hit a snowbank. Postaccident examination of the aircraft failed to reveal any anomalies that could be associated with a preexisting condition.
Factual narrative
On February 21, 2000, about 1700 central standard time, a Cessna 150H, N22017, piloted by a student pilot, sustained substantial damage when it exited the prepared surface on takeoff from runway 20 (5,500 feet by 100 feet, dry asphalt) at Alexander Field, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight was not on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The student pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated from Alexander Field about 15 minutes prior to the accident for a local flight.
The student pilot was performing solo takeoff and landing practice during the accident flight. In his written statement, the pilot said that the accident takeoff was his third takeoff. He said that when he was near takeoff speed the, "...tail end of [the] airplane started to fishtail badly...." He said that he attempted to correct and subsequently exited the left side of the runway and hit a snowbank.
Postaccident examination of the aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration failed to reveal any anomalies that could be associated with a preexisting condition.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N22017
- Reported as
- Cessna 150H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 60613
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Kurt R. Gross
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- ISW
- Airport
- ISW · Alexander Field, runway 20, 5,500 × 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
- 20
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 21 total · 21 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ISW
Other investigations on N22017 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.