- Date
- November 10, 2022, 16:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Gilford, NH
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N7223MCessna 175
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of visual reference
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20221110018069A
- Case key
- 106277
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 decision to continue the approach to land in conditions where he was unable to see in front of the airplane due to sun glare, which resulted in in a collision a building.
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 amphibious airplane reported that while on final approach to runway 26 he had trouble viewing the runway due to glare from the setting sun. He recalled making “…continuous efforts to block the sun glare.” He planned to make a gradual descent on the final approach to get the best forward view and peripheral views of the area. While descending, he further described that “the brightness inside the cockpit was difficult to observe instruments. I descended towards what I was convinced was the runway. I remember nothing else from that time forward.” The airplane subsequently struck the roof of a business, and the wreckage came to rest next to the building in the parking lot. The airplane’s fuselage, both wings, empennage, and floats were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Based on this information, the airplane likely struck the building after the pilot allowed the airplane to descend too low on the approach to the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7223M
- Reported as
- Cessna 175
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 55523
- Built
- 1958
- Airframe hours
- 3,386
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Moosehead Enterprises LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 5, 2022
- Departed
- 6ME6 · East Sumner, ME
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- LCI · Laconia Muni
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Handheld GPS, Stall warning system
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
- 72
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 10, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,100 total · 1,400 in this make and model · 1,900 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Icing
- Unknown
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- LCI, 1 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KLCI 101956Z AUTO 23010KT 10SM CLR 20/M02 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP203 T02001022=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 7, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.9 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.
Other investigations on N7223M · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.