- Date
- June 9, 2012, 15:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Alabaster, AL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6963SCessna 150H
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120609011659A
- Case key
- 83935
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 directional control while landing in gusting wind conditions.
Findings · 3
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
The pilot reported that the airplane was about to touch down on runway 16, when a gust of wind pushed the airplane toward trees along the right side of the runway. The pilot added power and tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid the trees. Two witnesses observed the airplane in a nose-high attitude over the runway as it drifted right into trees. One of the witnesses said that about 30 minutes before the accident the wind was from 110 degrees at 9 knots and was increasing in velocity. The recorded wind at the airport, about 30 minutes after the accident, was from 140 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 24 knots. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation; substantial damage was observed on the right wing.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he flew a traffic pattern for landing on runway 16, a 5,000-foot-long, 75-foot-wide, asphalt runway. As the airplane was about to touch down, a gust of wind pushed it toward the right side of the runway. The pilot added power and attempted to correct; however, the airplane drifted off the right side of the runway and impacted a tree. Two witnesses observed the airplane in a nose-high attitude over the runway as it drifted right into trees. One of the witnesses estimated the wind from 110 degrees at 9 knots and increasing. The recorded wind at the airport, about 30 minutes after the accident, was from 140 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 24 knots. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions and substantial damaged was observed on the right wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6963S
- Reported as
- Cessna 150H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15067663
- Airframe hours
- 4,075
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-200 SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Reid Don W
- Registered owner
- Reid Don W
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 26, 2012 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Warrior, AL
- Destination
- EET · Alabaster, AL
- Airport
- EET · Shelby County, runway 16, 5,000 × 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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 13, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 253 total · 35 in this make and model · 9 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 14 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- EET
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 17, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 MB 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.