- Date
- April 25, 1996, 12:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Terre Haute, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N18HZCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 3, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960425008499A
- Case key
- 10236
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 planning/decision, which resulted in his inadequate compensation (or inability to compensate) for the wind condition. The high/gusty wind condition was a related factor.
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 reported that while taxiing on runway 31, he turned the yoke 45 degrees to the right and forward since the winds were from 100 degrees off the nose to the left. After taxiing about 50 yards, the airplane started to roll forward and the tail began to lift. The tail continued to rise and the propeller struck the pavement. Within seconds, the airplane nosed over on its back. A Cessna taxiing diagram indicated that the proper procedure for taxiing with a left quartering tailwind was with down aileron on the left wing and down elevator. Neither the Pilot's Operating Handbook nor the Federal Aviation Administration's Flight Training Handbook discussed the technique of turning the yoke only 45 degrees. Both publications indicated that the respective aileron should be moved either up or down. The wind was reported to be from 210 degrees at 30, gusting 40 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 25, 1996, at 1245 central daylight time, a Cessna 172, N18HZ, operated by Martin Aviation, sustained substantial damage while taxiing from landing when a gust of wind nosed the airplane over on its back. The commercial pilot was not injured. The 14 CFR 91 flight had landed on runway 23 and had turned right onto runway 31 at Hulman Regional Airport, Terre Haute, Indiana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
Local winds at the time of the accident were reported as being from 210 degrees at 30 knots, gusting to 40 knots.
The pilot reported that while taxiing on runway 31, he turned the yoke 45 degrees to the right and forward since the winds were 100 degrees off the nose to the left. He reported that after taxiing about 50 yards, the airplane started to roll forward and the tail lifted straight up. The pilot reported that the tail continued to go straight up and the propeller struck the pavement. Within seconds the airplane had nosed over on its back. The pilot shut off the fuel mixture and evacuated the airplane.
The Cessna taxiing diagram indicates that the proper procedure for taxiing with a left quartering tailwind is down aileron on the left wing and down elevator.
Neither the Cessna Pilot's Operating Handbook nor the Federal Aviation Administration's Flight Training Handbook discuss the technique of turning the yoke 45 degrees. In both publications the aileron is either up or down. (See attachments)
Aircraft
- Registration
- N18HZ
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17266378
- Airframe hours
- 15,993
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Martin Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 30, 1995 · 297 hours before
- Departed
- OWB · Owensboro, KY
- Destination
- HUF
- Airport
- HUF · Hulman Regional, runway 31, 5,299 × 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
- 25
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,125 total · 1,035 in this make and model · 1,023 as pilot in command · 176 in the last 90 days · 76 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 30 knots, gusting 40
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HUF
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.