- Date
- August 14, 2001, 16:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- South Haven, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2949XCessna 177
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration Grand Rapids FSDO
- FAA report
- 20010814021419A
- Case key
- 53147
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 not maintaining aircraft control during the landing. Factors to the accident were the pilot not performing a go-around and the ditch.
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 pilot reported that during the landing, at approximately five feet above the ground, there was a "strong crosswind gust." The pilot reported that after he encountered the gust of wind he, "... should have applied full power and initiated a go-around." The pilot stated that the airplane departed the right side of the runway and impacted a ditch. A witness to the accident reported that the accident airplane was "unstable" during the landing approach. The witness stated that after the airplane touchdown it began to bounce. The witness reported that after the third bounce the pilot lost control of the airplane, the airplane departed the prepared runway surface and impacted the ditch. The witness stated that the wind velocity at the time of the accident was approximately, "... 7 to 8 knots, gust inbetween [in between]." At 1553 a weather observation station located 15 nautical miles to the southwest reported the wind direction and speed as 350 degrees magnetic at 8 knots.
Factual narrative
On August 14, 2001, at 1600 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 177, N2949X, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during an on-ground collision with a ditch while landing on runway 04 (4,300 feet by 75 feet, dry/asphalt) at the South Haven Area Regional Airport, South Haven, Michigan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant, reported no injuries. The flight departed the Southwest Michigan Regional Airport (BEH), Benton Harbor, Michigan, at 1500.
According to the pilot, during the landing, at approximately five feet above the ground, there was a "strong crosswind gust." The pilot reported that after he encountered the gust of wind he, "... should have applied full power and initiated a go-around." The pilot stated that the airplane departed the right side of the runway and impacted a ditch.
A witness to the accident, who was also the airport manager, reported that the accident airplane had attempted to land on runway 04. The witness reported that the accident airplane was "unstable" during the landing approach. The witness stated that after the touchdown the airplane began to bounce. The witness reported that after the third bounce the pilot lost control of the airplane, the airplane departed the prepared runway surface and impacted the ditch. The witness stated that the wind velocity at the time of the accident was approximately, "... 7 to 8 knots, gust inbetween [in between]."
A weather observation station located at BEH, 15 nautical miles to the southwest, reported the weather at 1553 as:
Date: 08/14/2001
Time: 1553
Wind: 350 degrees magnetic at 8 knots
Visibility: 10 statute miles
Sky Condition: Sky Clear
Temperature: 22 degrees Celsius
Dew Point: 11 degrees Celsius
Altimeter Setting: 30.10 inches-of-mercury
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2949X
- Reported as
- Cessna 177
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17700349
- Airframe hours
- 5,667.7
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A3A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Fred R. Kuechenmeister
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 13, 2001
- Departed
- BEH · Benton Harbor, MI
- Destination
- 0D1 · South Haven, MI
- Airport
- 0D1 · South Haven Area Regional, runway 040, 4,300 × 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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- May 8, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 174 total · 29 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- BEH, 15 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.