- Date
- August 21, 2000, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- San Antonio, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N98873Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 19, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000821039799A
- Case key
- 50057
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 control during landing. A factor was the reported wind gust.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
After about 45 minutes of uneventful flight, the pilot was practicing touch and go landings on Runway 14. While starting to flare on the third landing, a right cross-wind 'gust' pushed the airplane to the left. The airplane floated to the left, off the side of the runway, as the pilot attempted to correct by raising the nose and applying right rudder. Subsequently, the left main landing gear made contact with the ground and collapsed, resulting in the airplane skidding across a taxiway. The 148-hour pilot did not state that he had any cross-wind problems during the first two touch and go landings, nor did he state that there were any mechanical or control problems with the airplane. Examination of the airplane revealed structural damage to the tail and horizontal stabilizer. Wind reported, 23 minutes after the accident, was from 140 degrees at 9 knots with no gusts.
Factual narrative
On August 21, 2000, approximately 1600 central daylight time, a Cessna 172P airplane, N98873, was substantially damaged following a loss of control while landing on Runway 14 at the Stinson Municipal Airport, San Antonio, Texas. The pilot, who held a valid Mexican private pilot certificate, and his pilot-rated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The local flight originated from the San Antonio International Airport at 1515.
According to the pilot, the accident occurred while he was practicing touch and go landings at the Stinson Airport. During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge, the pilot reported the following sequence of events of the accident:
While starting to flare on the third landing, a right cross-wind "gust" pushed the airplane to the left. The airplane floated to the left, off the side of the runway, as the pilot attempted to correct by raising the nose and applying right rudder. Subsequently, the left main landing gear made contact with the ground and collapsed, resulting in the airplane skidding across a taxiway.
The 148-hour pilot did not state that he had any cross-wind problems during the first two touch and go landings, nor did he state that there were any mechanical or control problems with the airplane.
Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed structural damage to the tail and horizontal stabilizer.
At 1623, the reported winds at Stinson Airport were from 140 degrees at 9 knots with no gusts.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N98873
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17276369
- Airframe hours
- 1,895
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Alpha Tango Flying Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 15, 2000 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- SAT · TX
- Destination
- SSF
- Airport
- SSF · Stinson Municipal, runway 14, 4,128 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- Certificate
- Foreign
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 130 total · 30 in this make and model · 40 as pilot in command · 64 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 99 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SSF
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.