- Date
- May 14, 2003, 10:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Conroe, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1470XPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20030514013349A
- Case key
- 57073
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 inadequate compensation for wind. A contributing factor was the gusting wind conditions.
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 student pilot was attempting the third landing to runway 19 on his first supervised solo flight. The pilot said, " During the landing flare approximately 5-6 feet off the runway my right wing jerked severely to the left." He said, " I lost control for a couple of seconds before I was able to level the wings. The wind shear tossed the plane 40-50 degrees to the left..." Subsequently, the airplane's nose gear touched down and collapsed, and the airplane came to rest upright on the side of the runway. The pilot reported at the time of the accident, the wind was from 190 degrees at 10 knots. Approximately the time of the accident, the airport weather facility reported the wind from 190 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 17 knots. The pilot had reported 17 hours of total flight time, all in make and model.
Factual narrative
On May 14, 2003, approximately 1015 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140 single-engine airplane, N1470X, sustained substantial damage following a loss of control while landing at the Montgomery County Airport (CXO), near Conroe, Texas. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The supervised solo flight departed CXO approximately 1000.
The 17-hour student pilot reported he was attempting the third landing to runway 19 on his first supervised solo flight. During the landing flare, "approximately 5-6 feet off the runway my right wing jerked severely to the left." The pilot "lost control for a couple of seconds before [he] was able to level the wings. The windshear tossed the plane 40-50 degrees to the left..." Subsequently, the airplane's nose gear touched down and collapsed, and the airplane came to rest upright on the left side of the runway. The pilot reported at the time of the accident, the wind was from 190 degrees at 10 knots.
An FAA inspector, who responded to the accident site, reported both wing spars were bent, and the firewall was buckled.
At 1038, the CXO automated surface observation system (ASOS) reported the wind from 190 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 17 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1470X
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7525307
- Airframe hours
- 3,180
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Charles A. Ballard
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 2002 · 95 hours before
- Departed
- CXO · Conroe, TX
- Airport
- CXO · Montgomery County, runway 19, 3,974 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 17 total · 17 in this make and model · 17 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 13 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,900 ft broken
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- CXO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.