CHI00LA081

The airplane veered off the runway and impacted a snow bank during an instructional flight. A crosswind was present during the landing. Examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies.

On February 21, 2000, at 1314 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172R, N922TA, operated by Tradewinds Aviation, was substantially damaged during landing on runway 27 (5,000 feet by 100 feet, dry asphalt) at the Pontiac Oakland County International Airport (PTK), Waterford, Michigan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight was not operating on a flight plan. The certified flight instructor and student pilot reported no injuries. The local flight departed PTK at 1230.

The certified flight instructor reported the following in a written statement, "During the landing phase on 27R, the approach was a little high and fast (about 70 kts or so) with 20 degrees of flaps. During the flare right rudder was applied to compensate for the left crosswind. Our main gear touched down first and the landing seemed to be normal. When the nose gear touched down the a/c suddenly turned sharply to the left. The a/c veered off the runway to the left and hit a snow embankment. This is when the a/c nose pitched forward and the prop struck the ground. Then the right wind hit the ground next. The a/c pivoted on the nose and wing about 100-150 degrees to the right. After this the a/c settled and rested on the landing gear facing north."

The student pilot reported the following in a written statement, "At the approach to runway 27R at about 70 knots, with flaps at 20 degrees, just above the runway, and correcting for crosswind 220 degrees. We were a little too high at the flare, but had a relative smooth touch of the main gear. The front wheel was still up at about 50 knots. As the airplane slowed down and the front wheel touched down, the airplane swayed to the left, and out of control, regardless [of] the efforts to correct with right rudder. Unfortunately we ran into deep snow that caused the nose to tilt down, off the runway, and hit the right wing into the ground."

The rod end for the nose landing was found fractured. According to National Transportation Safety Board's Material Laboratory examination of the rod end, "...Examination with the aid of a binocular microscope revealed that the entire fracture surface had rough irregular features with no indication of progressive (fatigue) cracking...Rough features on the fracture face and bending deformation of the fracture end were indicative of overstress separation." Examination of the airplane by the Federal Aviation Administration revealed no anomalies.