- Date
- May 16, 2010, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Jekyll Island, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N53039Cessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 12, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100516038029A
- Case key
- 76130
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 loss of airplane control while landing with a crosswind.
Findings · 2
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
After landing with a 5-knot crosswind, the pilot noticed a shimmy in the nosewheel and pulled back on the yoke in an effort to raise the nose and offload the strut. Consequently, the airplane became airborne and bounced twice down the runway. The nose gear strut collapsed on the second impact, resulting in a prop strike and substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot stated that he did not correct for the crosswind during the approach. He reported no preimpact mechanical abnormalities with the airplane.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing on runway 36, a 3,715-foot long, 75-foot wide, asphalt runway. After touchdown the pilot noticed a nosewheel shimmy and "instinctively pulled back on the yoke to raise the nose to offload the strut." This caused the airplane to become airborne and bounce twice down the runway. The nose gear strut collapsed on the second impact, causing a prop strike and substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot stated that he had used "no real wind correction" for the approach, and did not report any mechanical abnormalities with the airplane. The recorded weather at an airport located 5 miles north of the accident site, about the time of the accident, reported winds from 220 degrees at 5 knots, with unrestricted visibility.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N53039
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S9259
- Airframe hours
- 6,000
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Savannah Aviation Inc
- Registered owner
- Savannah Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 12, 2010
- Departed
- SAV · Savannah, GA
- Destination
- 09J · Jekyll Island, GA
- Airport
- 09J · Jekyll Island Airport, runway 36, 3,715 × 75 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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 5, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 142 total · 47 in this make and model · 78 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- SSI, 5 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 17, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 874 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.