- Date
- December 28, 2007, 08:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1458UCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- Case key
- 67313
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 failure to maintain aircraft control. A contributing factor was prevailing 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 private pilot was flying multiple visual patterns on a 40-foot wide asphalt runway. Winds were reported by the pilot as variable and gusting. The pilot stated that during the third touch-and-go, the wind shifted to a crosswind with a tailwind component. While reconfiguring for takeoff, the pilot perceived a faster than normal groundspeed. A gust of wind contacted the airplane's tail pushing the nose to the left. The pilot attempted to correct back to centerline but was hesitant to input an aggressive correction due to the faster than normal groundspeed. The left main gear ran off the runway onto the grass and the airplane departed the left side of the runway. The nose gear sank into mud and was separated. The nose gear strut dug into the muddy terrain and the airplane nosed over coming to rest in the inverted position. On a NTSB Form 6120.1, the pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented with a more aggressive rudder input.
Factual narrative
The private pilot was flying multiple visual patterns on a 40-foot wide asphalt runway. Winds were reported by the pilot as variable and gusting. The pilot stated that during the third touch-and-go, the wind shifted to a crosswind with a tailwind component. While reconfiguring for takeoff, the pilot perceived a faster than normal groundspeed. A gust of wind contacted the airplane's tail pushing the nose to the left. The pilot attempted to correct back to centerline but was hesitant to input an aggressive correction due to the faster than normal groundspeed. The left main gear ran off the runway onto the grass and the airplane departed the left side of the runway. The nose gear sank into mud and was separated. The nose gear strut dug into the muddy terrain and the airplane nosed over coming to rest in the inverted position. On a NTSB Form 6120.1, the pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented with a more aggressive rudder input.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1458U
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17267125
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- MVP Aero Academy - Weiser Park
- Registered owner
- J & D Aircraft Llc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- EYQ · Houston, TX
- Airport
- EYQ · Weiser Air Park, runway 090, 3,455 × 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
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 1, 2006
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 110 total · 45 in this make and model · 70 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 8 knots, gusting 11
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg