- Date
- September 26, 2000, 14:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Wheeling, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N98629Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 23, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000926023049A
- Case key
- 50371
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 inadequate compensation for the crosswind that resulted in the failure to maintain directional control of the airplane. Factors associated with the accident were the crosswind, the ditch, the student's lack of experience, and the poor in-flight planning decision to land on a runway with a direct crosswind.
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 nosed over following a loss of directional control on landing. The student pilot reported he received a weather briefing from the Kankakee Flight Service Station prior to the cross-country flight. The pilot reported that upon returning to the Palwaukee Airport (his original departure point), he was cleared to land on runway 16 with the winds from 250 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 17 knots. Upon landing, the airplane traveled off the right side of the runway where it contacted a drainage ditch and nosed over. The student pilot's logbook was endorsed for the cross-country flight. The endorsement contained a 7 knots crosswind limitation. Palwaukee Airport has another runway which is oriented 24/06. According to a Cessna 172P Information Manual, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for the airplane is 15 knots.
Factual narrative
On September 26, 2000, at 1445 central daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N98629, nosed over following a loss of directional control while landing on runway 16 (5,001 feet by 100 feet) at the Palwaukee Airport, Wheeling, Illinois. The student pilot was not injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 solo instructional cross-country flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions and a VFR flight plan was filed. The airplane last departed Janesville, Wisconsin, at 1430 central daylight time.
The student pilot reported he received a weather briefing from the Kankakee Flight Service Station prior to the cross-country flight. The pilot reported that upon returning to the Palwaukee Airport (his original departure point), he was cleared to land on runway 16 with the winds from 250 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 17 knots. Upon landing, the airplane traveled off the right side of the runway where it contacted a drainage ditch and nosed over.
The student pilot's logbook was endorsed for the cross-country flight. The endorsement contained a 7 knots crosswind limitation. Palwaukee Airport has another runway which is oriented 24/06. According to a Cessna 172P Information Manual, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for the airplane is 15 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N98629
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172-76323
- Airframe hours
- 14,998
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- American Flyers
- Registered owner
- Ate Of Texas, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 7, 2000 · 53 hours before
- Departed
- JVL · Janesville, WI
- Destination
- PWK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- PWK · Palwaukee, runway 16, 5,001 × 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 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 59 total · 57 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 9 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 154 °F, dew point 115 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PWK
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.