- Date
- August 29, 1999, 11:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Mt. Vernon, IL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N60SVBenson Sorrell SNS-7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 21, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990829030599A
- Case key
- 47354
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 compensation for the wind condition which resulted in an inadvertent ground loop. A factor associated with the accident was the gusty 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
The pilot reported that while landing on runway 23 a quartering crosswind from the left lifted the tail of the airplane to the right. The airplane rotated 360 degrees and the right main landing gear collapsed. The pilot reported local winds at the time of the accident were from 150 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 18 knots.
Factual narrative
On August 29, 1999, at 1145 central daylight time (cdt), a Benson Sorrell SNS-7, N60SV, was substantially damaged when the airplane ground looped during a landing roll on runway 23 (6,498' x 150') at the Mt. Vernon Airport, Mt. Vernon, Illinois. The pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated from Creve Couer, Missouri, at 1015 cdt.
The pilot reported that during the landing, "Upon rollout a quartering crosswind from port side lifted tail to starboard continuing 360 degrees causing the starboard landing gear to fold under the fuselage."
The pilot reported the local winds at the time of the accident were from 150 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 18 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N60SV
- Reported as
- Benson Sorrell SNS-7 (SORRELL SN)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 236
- Airframe hours
- 381
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-B1E, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Vernon A. Walser
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 29, 1999 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- 1H0 · Creve Couer, MO
- Destination
- MVN
- Airport
- MVN · Mt. Vernon, runway 23, 6,498 × 150 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
- 60
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,452 total · 100 in this make and model · 36 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 15 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 57 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.