- Date
- August 24, 1996, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Dexter, IA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8217TCessna 175
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 23, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960824028449A
- Case key
- 10390
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 inadequate short field landing procedure/technique. The tailwind and grass runway were related factors.
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 was south of the private airstrip, and had lined up the airplane for a straight in landing to the north on the 1800 foot grass runway. Also, he reported that the there was a tailwind of approximately 5 knots during landing. When he applied the brakes on the grass runway, the tires began to skid. The airplane went off the end of the runway, through a fence, and impacted a ditch. The aircraft operating handbook data indicated that the airplane's landing performance was adequate for the landing runway, and the local conditions.
Factual narrative
On August 24, 1996, at 1500 central daylight time (cdt), a Cessna 175, N8217T, was substantially damaged during landing. The airplane collided with a fence, and a ditch at the end of the approximately 1,800 foot long private grass runway, near Dexter, Iowa. The pilot and passenger were uninjured in the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot reported on NTSB Form 6120.1/2 that this was a local photographic flight. The pilot reported that the takeoff was made to the south. For landing the pilot reported that he was south of the private airstrip, and lined up the airplane for a straight in landing to the north. A tailwind was reported by the pilot of approximately 5 knots during landing. During landing roll the pilot reported that when he applied the brakes on the grass runway the tires began to skid. The pilot reported that the airplane went past the end of the runway, hitting the fence and ditch.
The local elevation around Dexter, Iowa, is approximately 1,300 feet above mean sea level. The Cessna pilot manual lists the landing ground roll distance for a Cessna 175, at 2,500 feet elevation, at 2,350 pounds, with 40 degrees of flaps, on a hard surface runway, at 50 degrees fahrenheit, as 620 feet. The total landing distance over a 50 foot obstacle with all of the above conditions, is listed at 1,220 feet.
The airplane's nose strut was broken off, the firewall, propeller and cowling were bent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8217T
- Reported as
- Cessna 175
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17556917
- Engine
- Continental GO-300-D, 175 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Leon Thompson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- Private Strip, runway 36, 1,800 × 75 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
- 77
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,460 total · 10 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
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 N8217T · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.