- Date
- August 4, 2013, 12:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Meridian, MS
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4251Cessna 170B
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 21, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20130804015049A
- Case key
- 87688
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 during the landing roll.
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
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane stated that during the landing flare, the airplane began to drift to the right, and then yawed left upon touchdown. The pilot applied right rudder to compensate, and the airplane continued to yaw to the left while skidding to the right. The right wing and nose subsequently contacted the runway before the airplane came to rest. Postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the fuselage at the right main landing gear attach point. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. When asked how the accident could have been prevented, the pilot commented that had he, “…recognized the sudden left yaw early enough, perhaps a go-around would have been enough to straighten it out.”
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane stated that during the landing flare, the airplane began to drift to the right, and then yawed left upon touchdown. The pilot applied right rudder to compensate, and the airplane continued to yaw to the left while skidding to the right. The right wing and nose subsequently contacted the runway before the airplane came to rest. Postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the fuselage at the right main landing gear attach point. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. When asked how the accident could have been prevented, the pilot commented that had he, “…recognized the sudden left yaw early enough, perhaps a go-around would have been enough to straighten it out.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4251
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25346
- Airframe hours
- 3,800
- Engine
- Cont Motor C145 SERIES, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Kirchoff Kevin B
- Registered owner
- Kirchoff Kevin B
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 10, 2013
- Departed
- NQA · Millington, TN
- Destination
- MEI · Meridian, MS
- Airport
- MEI · Key Field Airport, runway 04, 4,599 × 150 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Military, Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 11, 2013
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 8,200 total · 124 in this make and model · 5,500 as pilot in command · 59 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,600 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- MEI
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 19, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.0 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.