- Date
- November 26, 1997, 13:40 local (19:40 UTC)
- Place
- Minneapolis, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N931ACKing Avid Flyer C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 28, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971126040699A
- Case key
- 10792
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 directional control. A related factor was the crosswind.
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
On rollout after a landing the airplane ground looped. The pilot said that he lost directional control due to the cross wind. The airplane landed on runway 31R. A weather observation taken at the airport 13 minutes after the accident indicated the wind to be from 250 degrees at 9 knots.
Factual narrative
On November 26, 1997, at 1340 central standard time, an Avid Flyer C, N931AC, operated by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during a landing on runway 31R (3,263' X 75' dry/asphalt), at Crystal Airport, near Minneapolis, Minnesota. The pilot and one passenger reported no injuries. The pilot said that the he encountered a cross wind and the airplane ground looped. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file for the flight which departed Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, about 1330.
The pilot told inspectors was that he lost directional control of his airplane when he encountered a cross wind during rollout after landing..
The airplane was landed on runway 31R at Crystal airport at 1340. A weather observation taken at the same airport 13 minutes after the accident indicated the prevailing wind to be 250 degrees at 9 knots.
The pilot's total time in this airplane make and model was shown as 16 hours on his written statement.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N931AC
- Reported as
- King Avid Flyer C (AVID FLYER)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 931
- Engine
- Rotax 582-UL-48KW, 66 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John Stontz
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- NONE · Brooklyn Park, MN
- Destination
- MIC
- Airport
- MIC · Crystal, runway 31R, 3,263 × 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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 231 total · 16 in this make and model · 16 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MIC
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.