- Date
- April 20, 2024, 16:24 local (20:24 UTC)
- Place
- Zelienople, PA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N684SPCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing: Abnormal runway contact
- 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
- 20240420005439A
- Case key
- 194148
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 inadequate compensation for the gusting crosswind condition during landing.
Findings · 4
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
While inbound to the airport the pilot stated that he listened to the automated terminal information service, which indicated that the wind was from 290° at 11 kts with gusts to 20 kts. The pilot selected runway 35 for the landing, and to compensate for the wind, he added an extra 5 knots to the approach speed. After passing the runway threshold during the final approach, while about 20 feet above the runway surface, the airplane suddenly rolled to the right and the right wingtip contacted the ground. The pilot further described that he thought that the airplane had encountered a significant wind shear. He then leveled the wings and added power to abort the landing, but the airplane impacted the runway several seconds later. The airplane came to rest in the grass to the left of the runway and the airplane’s fuselage and right wing were substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. A surface weather observation taken about 9 minutes before the accident reported wind from 310° at 12 kts, with gusts to 17 kts. The wind conditions reported during the hour preceding and the hour following the accident included similar gusting crosswind conditions, with some directional variability/shearing reported about 40 minutes before and 1 hour after the accident time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N684SP
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (S)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8095
- Built
- 1999
- Airframe hours
- 6,219
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Condor Aero Club Inc
- Registered owner
- Condor Aero Club Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 6, 2024 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- UNV · State College, PA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- PJC · Zelienople Municipal Airport, runway 35, 4,933 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B
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
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 16, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 206 total · 205 in this make and model · 132 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 12 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- KPJC, 0.14 nm away
- METAR
- KPJC 202015Z AUTO 31012G17KT 10SM SCT055 10/M02 A3007 RMK AO2
Docket · 8
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 2, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 18.5 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.