- Date
- April 14, 2009, 15:20 local (20:20 UTC)
- Place
- Bessemer, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N269WBNorth American SNJ
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090414007829A
- Case key
- 73654
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 while landing with a crosswind.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
During landing on Runway 23, the airplane floated more than the pilot expected, and then bounced 2 feet above the runway. As the airplane bounced, it encountered a gust of wind from the west and the pilot attempted unsuccessfully to control the airplane with braking and rudder inputs. The airplane subsequently ground looped and departed the right side of the runway, impacting a tree with the left wing. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the engine firewall. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions were reported by the pilot or identified during the examination. The recorded wind about the time of the accident, at an airport 11 miles to the southeast, was from 310 degrees at 9 knots.
Factual narrative
During landing on runway 23, the airplane floated more than expected, and then bounced to a height of 2 feet above the runway. As the airplane bounced, it encountered a gust of wind from the west and the pilot attempted unsuccessfully to control the airplane with braking and rudder inputs. The airplane subsequently ground looped and departed the right side of the runway, impacting a tree with the left wing. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the engine firewall. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions were reported by the pilot or identified during the examination. The recorded wind about the time of the accident, at an airport 11 miles to the southeast, was from 310 degrees at 9 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N269WB
- Reported as
- North American SNJ (4)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 26992
- Airframe hours
- 1,591
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R1340, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 2, 2008 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- JFX · Jasper, AL
- Destination
- EKY · Bessemer, AL
- Airport
- EKY · Bessemer Airport, runway 23, 6,007 × 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
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,750 total · 230 in this make and model · 37 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,400 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- EET, 11 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 3, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 826 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.
Other investigations on N269WB · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.