- Date
- January 19, 1999, 18:50 local (23:50 UTC)
- Place
- Hillsdale, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8142FCessna 150F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report April 18, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990119000589A
- Case key
- 45661
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 disregarding preparation for the flight. Factors were a frozen landing gear wheel, and the snowbank.
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 landing the airplane swerved to the left and impacted a snowbank. The pilot indicated that the left main landing gear was frozen with ice and slush accumulation in the main landing gear pant. He said that the accident could have been prevented by his removal of the wheel pants prior to operating in freezing conditions.
Factual narrative
On January 19, 1999, at 1850 eastern standard time, a Cessna 150F, N8142F, operated by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage on impact with a snowbank when landing on runway 28 (4,000' X 75' dry/asphalt) near Hillsdale, Michigan. The pilot and one passenger reported no injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The flight departed Wauseon, Ohio, about 1830.
The pilot said in a written statement that on landing the airplane, "... made immediate left into snow on side of runway." He said that he had left the wheel pants on the main landing gear and that ice and slush had accumulated in them and he thought that the left main landing gear wheel/tire had become frozen. He told investigators during a verbal interview that he could have avoided the accident if he had removed the wheel pants prior to flying in winter weather and freezing temperatures.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8142F
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15064242
- Airframe hours
- 8,500
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard F. Geeting
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 31, 1998 · 100 hours before
- Departed
- USE · Wauseon, OH
- Destination
- JYM
- Airport
- Y85 · Hillsdale Municipal, runway 28, 4,000 × 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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 198 total · 80 in this make and model · 130 as pilot in command · 62 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 19 °F, dew point 5 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.