- Date
- March 16, 2024, 15:02 local (19:02 UTC)
- Place
- Somerset, PA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N200AGBeech A23 24
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: 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
- 20240316002659A
- Case key
- 193967
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 student pilot’s failure to maintain directional control, and the flight instructor’s lack of remedial action during a landing attempt in a gusty wind, which resulted in a loss of directional control and runway excursion.
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 student pilot owned the airplane and was receiving instruction in it. The student pilot was attempting to land in a gusty wind on runway 25, a 5,002-ft-long, 75-ft-wide, asphalt runway. The airplane initially touched down on the runway, but then “ballooned” back into the air. The airplane subsequently drifted right off the runway and the student pilot attempted abort the landing; however, the airplane descended and struck a runway sign. It came to rest upright in a grass area between the runway and the taxiway. Postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed that the left flap and left main landing gear had separated. Additionally, the left wing and right elevator sustained substantial damage. The examination did not reveal evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. The recorded wind about the time of the accident was from 250° at 11 knots, gusting to 19 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N200AG
- Reported as
- Beech A23 24 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- MA-285
- Built
- 1967
- Airframe hours
- 4,017
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 20, 2023 · 80 hours before
- Airport
- 2G9 · Somerset County Airport, runway 25, 5,002 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Satellite tracking 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 32 total · 21 in this make and model
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 45
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 10, 2023
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 2,115 total · 18 in this make and model · 1,803 as pilot in command · 118 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 11 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- 2G9
- METAR
- METAR K2G9 161855Z AUTO 25011G19KT 10SM CLR 09/00 A2979
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 29, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.9 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.