- Date
- December 23, 2005, 09:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Morris, IL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N723PGCessna 172R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Du Page, IL, FSDO
- FAA report
- 20051223032369A
- Case key
- 63049
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's improper in-flight decision to land with a quartering tailwind and not maintaining directional control. Factors were the quartering tailwind and the snowdrift.
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 sustained substantial right wing damage on impact with a snowdrift and terrain when the airplane departed the right side of runway 36 during landing. The pilot stated, "I went around the pattern again and the conclusion ended up the same [too] high and [too] fast but I decided to land this time and the wind blew me off the right side of the [runway]. If I would not have gone off the side of the [runway] I would have gone off the end." The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane in reference to the flight. The wind was from 220 degrees at 14 knots.
Factual narrative
On December 23, 2005, about 0915 central standard time, a Cessna 172R, N723PG, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial right wing damage on impact with a snowdrift and terrain when the airplane departed the right side of runway 36 during landing at the Morris Municipal Airport-James R. Washburn Field (C09), near Morris, Illinois. The personal flight was operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot reported a visual flight rules flight plan was on file and was not activated. The pilot and two passengers were uninjured. The flight originated from the Poplar Grove Airport, near Poplar Grove, Illinois, about 0830.
The pilot's accident report stated:
Going to Morris I tried to get the weather, but could not figure out
how to get the weather [frequency] in and went ahead and entered
the pattern for [runway] 36. I ran a normal pattern and ended up
[too] long and [too] fast and executed a go around. I went around
the pattern again and the conclusion ended up the same [too] high
and [too] fast but I decided to land this time and the wind blew me
off the right side of the [runway]. If I would not have gone off the
side of the [runway] I would have gone off the end.
The pilot's safety recommendation stated:
Know the airplanes radios, get weather, look for the wind sock, land
into the wind, do not force the airplane to land, be prepared to do a
go around no matter what, and look for other signs of wind direction.
The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane in reference to the flight.
At 0905, the recorded weather at C09 was: wind 220 degrees at 14 knots; visibility 5 statute miles; present weather haze; sky condition clear; temperature 3 degrees C; dew point 1 degree C; altimeter 29.71 inches of mercury.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N723PG
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17280675
- Airframe hours
- 3,286.6
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Poplar Grove Airmotive Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 1, 2005
- Departed
- C77 · Belvidere, IL
- Destination
- C09 · Morris, IL
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 17
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 1, 2005
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 58 total · 3 in this make and model · 6 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.70 inHg
- Observed at
- C09
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.