- Date
- July 19, 2002, 12:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hurricane, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6383HCessna 150L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 6, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20020719018629A
- Case key
- 55266
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
pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing roll, resulting in an inadvertent ground loop.
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 made a full-flap landing but before the tail wheel touched down, the airplane began drifting to the side of the runway. He attempted to recover by applying full power but the airplane ground looped and went off the right side of the runway, tearing off the left main landing gear and damaging the engine mount, left wing, left aileron, fuselage, and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot said that at the time of the accident, the wind was calm.
Factual narrative
On July 19, 2002, approximately 1200 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 150L, was substantially damaged when it ground looped on landing at Grassy Meadows Airport, Hurricane, Utah. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at St. George, Utah, at 1145 MDT.
According to a telephone conversation with the pilot and his subsequent accident report, he made a full-flap landing but before the tail wheel touched down, the airplane began drifting to the side of the runway. He attempted to recover by applying full power but the airplane ground looped and went off the right side of the runway, tearing off the left main landing gear. Damage was also sustained to the propeller blades, engine mount, left wing and aileron, fuselage, horizontal stabilizer, and transponder antenna.
The pilot indicated that at the time of the accident, the wind was calm.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6383H
- Reported as
- Cessna 150L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15074956
- Airframe hours
- 3,295
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Timothy P. Hart
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 2002 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- SGU · St. George, UT
- Destination
- 1L7 · Hurricane, UT
- Airport
- 1L8 · Grassy Meadows, runway 18, 3,410 × 40 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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- November 19, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,973 total · 226 in this make and model · 1,900 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 100 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 29, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 281 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.