- Date
- March 26, 1990, 13:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Price, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4540XPiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900326005809A
- Case key
- 17908
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The pilot's inadequate conpensation for the gusty wind conditions, which were a factor.
Analysis
The student pilot was making a landing to runway 18, with winds from 190 degrees at 5, gusting to 15 knots. She said that at flare for touchdown, a strong wind gust struck the plane from the right and pushed it left. She attempted to go around but lost control. The plane struck the brush covered terrain left of the runway and collapsed the nose gear, right main gear, bent the fuselage, firewall and right wing. The plane came to rest 25 yards left of the runway. The weather reporting station confirmed the wind was gusting to 15 knots at the time of the accident.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4540X
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7690032
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Strand Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- GJC · Grand Junction, CO
- Destination
- PUC
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- PUC · Carbon Co., runway 18, 7,300 × 100 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
- 54
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 64 total · 7 in this make and model · 17 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 5 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.