- Date
- September 13, 1995, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Searcy, AR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7729KPiper PA-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950913049429A
- Case key
- 19584
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 winds. A factor was the 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
Following a solo student practice lesson, the pilot made a traffic pattern entry for a full stop wheel landing on runway 19. The indicated airspeed was 70 mph with the flaps extended 20 degrees. The airplane was banked 10 degrees into the wind which the pilot reported as 10 knots from the right of the runway. During the landing flare/touchdown, the right wheel touched the runway followed by the left wheel. Subsequently, the tailwheel airplane groundlooped as a gust of wind struck the airplane. The airplane came to rest inverted with structural damage to the wings.
Factual narrative
On September 13, 1995, at 1330 central daylight time, a Piper PA-20S-135, N7729K, groundlooped while landing at Searcy, Arkansas. The solo student pilot was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was being operated under Title 14, CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local instructional flight for which no flight plan was filed.
During a telephone interview, conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, and on the enclosed Pilot/Operator report, the pilot reported the following information. During a traffic pattern entry, the pilot set "up for a wheel landing" on runway 19. The indicated airspeed of the airplane was 70 mph with the flaps extended 20 degrees and the bank angle "about 10 degrees to the right because of the crosswind." The pilot reported the winds from 270 degrees at 10 knots. During the landing flare/touchdown, "the right main wheel touched down first and my speed decreased." The "left wheel came down, then I was struck by a gust from the right." Subsequently, the airplane groundlooped and came to rest inverted. Wing structural damage was reported.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7729K
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-551
- Airframe hours
- 1,460
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Peter Rearick
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 14, 1995 · 19 hours before
- Departed
- M07
- Airport
- M07 · Searcy Municipal, runway 19, 5,007 × 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
- 29
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 75 total · 20 in this make and model · 20 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.