- Date
- July 9, 2006, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Grand Rapids, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N736VMCessna R172K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 25, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 64350
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 failure to maintain control of the airplane during the landing. A factor associated with the accident was the gusty tailwind that prevailed.
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 float equipped airplane collided with the water and sank while returning to land on a lake that was just used for takeoff. The pilot reported he had trouble gaining altitude during the takeoff and that the surrounding terrain and trees were high. He decided to turn around and land back on the lake. The pilot stated that when he was about 20 feet above the water he pulled off the power too soon and the wind pushed the right wing down. The right float contacted the water first. The airplane then bounced and touched down again in a yaw attitude. The pilot reported the aluminum float attachment brackets on the right float broke and the airplane fell to the right resulting in wing damage. The pilot reported the local winds were from 210 degrees at 23 knots, gusting to 26 knots.
Factual narrative
On July 9, 2006, at 1730 central daylight time, a float equipped Cessna R172K, N736VM, collided with the water and came to rest inverted while turning back to land on the lake that he just departed from in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The airplane was departing at the time of the accident.
The pilot reported he had trouble gaining altitude during the takeoff and that the surrounding terrain and trees were high. He decided to make a turn and land back on the lake. The pilot reported the wind kept raising the right wing during the turn. He stated that when he was about 20 feet above the water he pulled off the power too soon and the wind pushed the right wing down. The right float contacted the water first. The airplane then bounced and touched down again in a yaw attitude. The pilot reported the aluminum float attachment brackets on the right float broke and the airplane fell to the right resulting in wing damage.
The pilot reported the local winds were from 210 degrees at 23 knots, gusting to 26 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N736VM
- Reported as
- Cessna R172K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R1722822
- Airframe hours
- 2,319
- Engine
- Continental IO-360, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Russell S. Sampson
- Registered owner
- Maverick Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 1, 2005
- Departed
- Grand Rapids, MN
- Destination
- Grand Rapids, MN
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
- 47
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- July 1, 2005
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 582 total · 439 in this make and model · 439 as pilot in command · 53 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 23 knots, gusting 26
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg