- Date
- September 8, 1996, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wellston, MI
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7016TCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 23, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960908026339A
- Case key
- 10384
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 failed to maintain control of the aircraft. Factors were the rough road, the tree, and the tire.
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 he lost control during landing. After touch down the aircraft veered left after crossing rough road tracks which crossed the grass strip. The left wing hit a scrub tree and then the aircraft main gear hit a tire which marked the runway boundary. The airplane nosed over and came to rest on its top. The pilot reported that the airplane did not have a control or engine problem.
Factual narrative
On September 8, 1996, at 1400 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172, N7016T, sustained substantial damage during landing roll when the airplane veered off the runway and impacted a tree and nosed over. The private pilot and the two passengers were not injured. The 14 CFR 91 flight had departed Battle Creek, Michigan, and had landed at the Orchard Grove airstrip, Wellston, Michigan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported that he lost control during landing. After touch down the aircraft veered left after crossing rough road tracks which crossed the grass strip. The left wing hit a scrub tree and then the aircraft main gear hit a tire which marked the runway boundary. The airplane nosed over and came to rest on its top.
The pilot reported that the airplane did not have a control or engine problem.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7016T
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 46616
- Engine
- Continental O-300-A, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Thomas M. Wawzysko
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 25, 1995 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- BTL · Battle Creek, MI
- Airport
- Orchard Grove, runway 8, 1,700 × 50 ft, grass/turf
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
- 57
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 215 total · 191 in this make and model · 4 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MBL, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.