- Date
- December 27, 1996, 11:40 local (16:40 UTC)
- Place
- Menominee, MI
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N337PLCessna 402A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 14, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19961227040859A
- Case key
- 10503
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
ice restricting normal brake system, normal braking not possible for the pilot and the pilot's poor in-flight planning. A factor was the pilot not performing a flight to an alternate destination airport.
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
After conducting three (VFR) approaches to one runway the pilot landed on another runway. During the landing roll the airplane swerved to the left and exited the runway. The pilot said that the brakes had frozen over during the previous approaches, and when the airplane touched down the right brake broke loose and the airplane turned left. He said that he should have made a decision to fly to another airport prior to the last landing attempt.
Factual narrative
On December 27, 1996, at 1140 eastern standard time, a Cessna 402A, N337PL, operated by Freight Runners Express, Inc., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a 14 CFR Part 135, on demand cargo, sustained substantial damage when it exited runway 32 (5,100' x 100' snow covered asphalt) at Menominee, Michigan. The pilot reported minor injuries. The flight departed Green Bay, Wisconsin, about 1100 on an IFR flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
The pilot said that after making three attempts to land on runway 3 he elected to land on runway 32. He said that the landing was in the center of the runway, but on landing the airplane rotated to the left and exited the runway. He said that he felt the brakes had frozen on the previous landing attempts and that on rollout the right brake freed up; however, the left brake continued to be frozen. He feels that this frozen brake caused the airplane to spin around and exit the runway. He said there was a layer of ice on the windshield except where the alcohol de-ice system removed the ice. He said that he could see the runway on each approach, but had difficulty assessing his altitude above the runway. He indicated during an interview that he should have returned to Green Bay instead of continuing to attempt to land at Menominee.
A witness to the accident stated that after the accident he observed ice on the airframe including the "windows."
Subsequent to the accident an examination of the airplane failed to reveal any mechanical anomalies with the brakes. The right main landing gear folded inboard.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N337PL
- Reported as
- Cessna 402A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402A0039
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-E, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Freight Runners Express, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- GRB · Green Bay, WI
- Destination
- MNM
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- MNM · Menominee-Marinette Cnty, runway 32, 5,100 × 100 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
- 49
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,518 total · 163 in this make and model · 3,454 as pilot in command · 219 in the last 90 days · 53 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 12 °F, dew point 1 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KMN
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.