- Date
- April 12, 1995, 14:10 local (19:10 UTC)
- Place
- Mountain Home, AR
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N55409Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950412007559A
- Case key
- 19391
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 compensate for the gusty crosswind. A factor was gusting crosswinds.
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
Winds were reported from 270 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 26 knots. During the flare/touchdown on runway 23 the airplane encountered gusty winds, departed the runway, and struck a fence. Structural damage occurred to the wings and empennage.
Factual narrative
On April 12, 1995, at 1410 central daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N55409, collided with a fence during landing near Mountain Home, Arkansas. The private pilot was not injured, the pilot rated passenger received minor injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross country flight was operated by the Stick and Rudder Flying Club under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated in Monroe, Louisiana, at 1155, with prevailing visual meteorological conditions and a flight plan was not filed.
The pilot reported that prior to the landing, the automated weather observation service (AWOS) reported the winds from 270 degrees at 15 knots with gust to 26 knots. The pilot further stated that during touchdown on runway 23, the airplane encountered a wind gust, subsequently departing the runway and striking a fence.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector reported the airplane came to rest approximately 400 feet to the left of runway 23. Structural damage occurred to the wings and empennage. Wind at the nearest observation facility, 10 miles south-southeast, was from 260 degrees at 17 knots gusting to 26.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N55409
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17275176
- Airframe hours
- 6,516
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Stick & Rudder Club, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 24, 1995 · 34 hours before
- Departed
- MLU · Monroe, LA
- Destination
- BPK
- Airport
- BPK · Baxter County Regional, runway 23, 5,000 × 75 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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 447 total · 340 in this make and model · 427 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 17 knots, gusting 26
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FLP, 10 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.
Other investigations on N55409 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.