- Date
- April 4, 1989, 15:55 local (20:55 UTC)
- Place
- Chicago, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2944PPiper PA-22-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 24, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890404005729A
- Case key
- 14336
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 compensate for the crosswind condition which existed during the landing. Contributing to the accident was the gusty, crosswind which existed and the failure of the aircraft manufacturer to provide crosswind performance data for the aircraft.
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 was attempting to land on runway 18 after he had been informed of winds from 260 degrees at 19 KTS, gusting to 30 KTS. Just as he was about to touch down, a gust of wind caught the acft, driving the left wing to the rwy. The nose gear collapsed and the acft slid to a stop. The owners handbook, in the section on crosswinds, provides no guidance on a crosswind limit. Even without gusts, the crosswind component computes to nearly 19 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2944P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-3213
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-TC, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Vaughan Weeks
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- RAC · Racine, WI
- Airport
- C6X · Meigs, runway 18, 3,948 × 150 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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 276 total · 227 in this make and model · 276 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 19 knots, gusting 30
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CGX
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.