- Date
- August 1, 1999, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Harlan, IA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N98FPNorth American AT-6G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 13, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990801040359A
- Case key
- 46911
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 failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the aircraft during landing. Factors to the accident were the crosswind, the failure of the pilot to maintain compensation for the crosswind condition on approach, and the inadvertent ground loop encountered by the pilot.
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 aircraft departed the left side of the runway 33 and struck a small ditch embankment. The aircraft came to rest approximately 100 yards west of the runway. A weather report showed winds from 30-degrees magnetic at 8 knots gusting to 14 knots. The pilot stated that he was landing in a crosswind. The pilot stated that the crosswind correction used on the approach was not '...well stabilized, and [a] go around was contemplated, but [the airplane] touched down and ground looped.' A post accident examination of the airplane revealed no preexisting anomalies.
Factual narrative
On August 1, 1999, at 1500 central daylight time, a North American AT-6G, N98FP, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage during landing, on Runway 33 (4,100 feet by 75 feet, dry/asphalt), at the Harlan Municipal Airport, Harlan, Iowa. The flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and was not on a flight plan. The pilot reported no injuries to himself or to his one passenger. The flight had originated from the Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, about 1200.
In a written statement, the pilot stated that he was landing in a crosswind. The pilot stated that the crosswind correction used on the approach was not "...well stabilized, and [a] go around was contemplated, but [the airplane] touched down and ground looped."
The aircraft departed the left side of the runway and struck a small ditch embankment. The aircraft came to rest approximately 100 yards west of the runway.
A weather report for a reporting station located at the Aububon County Airport, Audubon, Iowa, which is 20 nautical miles and 70-degrees magnetic from the accident site, was reporting winds from 30-degrees magnetic at 8 knots gusting to 14 knots.
A post accident examination of the airplane revealed no preexisting anomalies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N98FP
- Reported as
- North American AT-6G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7695
- Airframe hours
- 4,197
- Engine
- P&W 1340-AN, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William M Reed
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 1999 · 21 hours before
- Departed
- OSH · Oshkosh, WI
- Destination
- HNR
- Airport
- HNR · Harlan Municipal Airport, runway 33, 4,100 × 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
- 64
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 603 total · 422 in this make and model · 513 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 8 knots, gusting 14
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ADU, 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.