- Date
- May 20, 2001, 14:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Worth, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N77241Cessna 140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 9, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20010520011729A
- Case key
- 52294
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 inadvertent ground loop during the landing roll. A contributing factor was the gusty crosswind.
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
the pilot reported that the tail-wheel equipped airplane ground looped after encountering a "sudden right crosswind gust" during the landing roll. The left wing contacted the runway, and the left main landing gear collapsed. The pilot reported the wind was from 220-240 degrees at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 knots. The wind at the nearest weather observation facility (approximately 32 nautical miles northeast of the accident site) was reported from 200 degrees at 12 knots gusting to 18 knots.
Factual narrative
On May 20, 2001, at 1415 central daylight time, a Cessna 140, single-engine tail-wheel equipped airplane, N77241, ground looped during landing on runway 17 at the Bourland Field Airport, near Fort Worth, Texas. The airplane, owned and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight, and a flight plan was not filed. The local flight departed Bourland Field approximately 1400.
The pilot reported to the FAA inspector, who responded to the accident site, that a "strong crosswind occurred from the right causing a venturi effect between two hangers adjacent to the runway." The pilot further reported that the "right wing lifted up, the airplane ground looped, and he could not correct for the ground loop."
On the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2), the pilot stated the wind was from 220-240 degrees at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 knots. During the second landing, the airplane was rolling on the centerline of the runway when a "sudden right crosswind gust from the hangar area on the west side [of the runway] lifted the right wing into a ground loop." The left wing contacted the runway, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest on the west edge of the runway.
The FAA inspector examined the airplane and found that the firewall and left wing sustained substantial damage. The left main landing gear was collapsed.
The wind at Fort Worth Meacham Airport (approximately 32 nautical miles northeast of the accident site) was reported from 200 degrees at 12 knots gusting to 18 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N77241
- Reported as
- Cessna 140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 11703
- Airframe hours
- 3,200
- Engine
- Continental C85-12F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Andrew C. Weatherly
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 16, 2001 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- 50F · Fort Worth, TX
- Destination
- 50F · Fort Worth, TX
- Airport
- 50F · Bourland Field, runway 17, 4,092 × 60 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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- June 8, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 230 total · 45 in this make and model · 177 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 12 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.61 inHg
- Observed at
- FTW, 32 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.