- Date
- February 7, 2024, 12:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Stevensville, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N39818Bellanca 17-30
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- 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
- 20240207001189A
- Case key
- 193777
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 of the airplane while landing with a crosswind.
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 during the approach to runway 29, the airplane was stable, and that the touchdown was “smooth”. The pilot described that the airplane handled as expected in flight and during the approach and that there was a wind from 010 degrees at 8 knots. After touchdown, as he lowered the nosewheel, the airplane made an uncontrolled turn to the left which he attempted to correct with full right rudder and right brake. The airplane struck a runway light before departing the runway and coming to rest in a ditch. The wings and fuselage were substantially damaged. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any preexisting mechanical defects with the rudder system controls or the nosewheel steering system. The nosewheel landing gear upper leg, lower drag strut, and right-hand lower steering rod were displaced and exhibited fractures consistent with overload as a result of impact damage. Based on this information, it is most likely that the pilot’s inadequate compensation for the prevailing crosswind from the right resulted in a loss of control during landing and the subsequent runway excursion.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N39818
- Reported as
- Bellanca 17-30 (A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 73-30511
- Built
- 1972
- Airframe hours
- 2,676
- Engine
- Continental Aerospace IO-520-K, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 2024 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- N47 · Pottstown, PA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- W29 · Bay Bridge, runway 29, 2,713 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Onboard weather, Stall warning system, Handheld GPS, Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- January 10, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,160 total · 400 in this make and model · 1,672 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.33 inHg
- Observed at
- KW29, 1 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KW29 071705Z AUTO 34006KT 10SM CLR 06/M04 A3033 RMK AO2 T00571036=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 21, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.3 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 N39818 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.