- Date
- July 5, 1995, 09:21 local (14:21 UTC)
- Place
- Chesterfield, MO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9144TPiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950705049609A
- Case key
- 9938
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 while landing and his inadequate compensation for wind conditions. A factor in the accident was the gusty crosswind conditions.
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
Upon touchdown, the airplane ballooned back into the air. The student pilot reported that the airplane then landed on the north side of the runway due to the crosswind. The pilot stated the right main landing gear got caught on the corner of the runway and taxiway, causing damage to the landing gear and causing the airplane to exit onto the grass adjacent to the runway. The left main landing gear was sheared from the airplane and damage was sustained by the left wing, engine fire wall, and engine mounts. A surface weather observation taken six minutes after the accident reported the winds from 210 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 24 knots.
Factual narrative
On July 5, 1995, at 0921 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28- 181, N9144T, sustained substantial damage while landing at Spirit of St. Louis Airport, Chesterfield, Missouri. The solo student pilot reported no injuries. The local 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight operated without a flight plan in visual meteorological conditions.
The student pilot returned to the Spirit of St. Louis Airport after a solo cross country practice flight. Upon touchdown on runway 26R (3800' x 75'), the airplane ballooned back into the air. The pilot stated that the airplane then got caught in a crosswind causing it to touchdown on the north side of the runway. He stated the right main landing gear then got caught on the corner of the runway and taxiway intersection, causing damage to the gear. The airplane exited the side of the runway onto the grass adjacent to the runway. The left main landing gear was sheared from the airplane and damage was sustained by the left wing, engine fire wall, and engine mounts.
A surface weather observation taken six minutes after the accident reported the winds from 210 degrees at 13 knots gusting to 24 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9144T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8690029
- Airframe hours
- 2,770
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bill & Debbie Himmelsbach
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 18, 1994 · 105 hours before
- Departed
- SUS · St. Louis, MO
- Airport
- SUS · Spirit Of St. Louis, runway 26R, 3,800 × 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
- 46
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 91 total · 91 in this make and model · 32 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 13 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SUS
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N9144T · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.