- Date
- August 20, 2003, 20:30 local (Aug 21, 2003, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Neche, ND
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- CFGRDCessna 170
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Fargo FSDO
- Case key
- 57783
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 unsuitable terrain encountered during the precautionary landing. Contributing factors to the accident include the pilot becoming lost/disoriented, his decision to perform a precautionary landing, and the soft terrain encountered during landing.
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 was damaged during a precautionary landing in a soft agricultural field. The pilot stated the airplane drifted south of the planned route and he was unable to locate the intended destination airport. The pilot reported he decided to make a precautionary landing in an agricultural field. The pilot stated that during the landing roll the aircraft encountered soft terrain and nosed over.
Factual narrative
On August 20, 2003, at 2030 central daylight time, a Canadian registered Cessna 170, CFGRD, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during a precautionary landing near Neche, North Dakota. 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 flight departed a private airstrip near Irma, Alberta-Canada, at 1515 and had the intended destination of Altona Airport (CJL6), Altona, Manitoba-Canada.
According to the pilot's written statement, during the cross-country flight the airplane drifted south of the planned route and he was unable to locate CJL6. The pilot reported he decided to make a precautionary landing in an agricultural field. The pilot stated that during the landing roll the aircraft encountered soft terrain and nosed over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- CFGRD
- Reported as
- Cessna 170
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19046
- Engine
- Continental O-300, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PVT · Irma
- Destination
- CJL6 · Altona
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 34
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 270° at 9 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.55 inHg
- Observed at
- HCO, 27 nm away