- Date
- February 16, 1997, 12:39 local (18:39 UTC)
- Place
- San Antonio, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N80814Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970216001639A
- Case key
- 20158
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed resulting in an inadvertent stall. A factor was the pilot's lack of recent experience.
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 private pilot had not flown for over a year, so he elected to rent an airplane and fly to a nearby airport to practice takeoffs and landings. The pilot reported that while on his fifth approach to a full stop landing on runway 14, 'he found himself high for landing and allowed his airspeed to get too slow after he configured the airplane with full flaps.' According to the pilot: 'a gust of wind flipped the right wing upward, sending the airplane into a diving turn to the left.' The left wing separated from the airframe after the airplane impacted the door of a hangar located on the east side of the runway. The winds at the time of the accident were reported as calm. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunction and stated that he did not hear the sound of the stall warning horn.
Factual narrative
On February 16, 1997, at 1239 central standard time, a Cessna 172M was substantially damaged following a lost of control while landing near San Antonio, Texas. The private pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, sustained minor injuries. The airplane was owned and operated by Wright Flyers Inc., of San Antonio, Texas, on a Title 14 CFR Part 91 flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight for which a flight plan was not filed. The flight originated from the San Antonio International Airport, at approximately 1130.
According to the pilot, "he had not flown for over a year, so he elected to rent an airplane and fly to the Stinson Municipal Airport to practice some takeoffs and landings." The pilot reported to the FAA inspector that while on his fifth approach to a full stop landing on runway 14, "he found himself high for landing and allowed his airspeed to get too slow after he configured the airplane with full flaps." The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions and stated that he did not hear the sound of the stall warning horn.
On the enclosed NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated that "a gust of wind flipped the right wing upward, sending the airplane into a diving turn to the left." The left wing separated from the airframe after the airplane impacted the door of a hangar located on the east side of the runway. The hangar sustained minor damage and a cowling on the airplane parked in the hangar was damaged.
The private pilot, who received his private pilot certificate in 1973, had accumulated a total of 157 hours. His last flight, which was also his last BFR, was performed on February 25, 1996.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80814
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172-66759
- Airframe hours
- 3,853
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wright Flyers Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 18, 1996 · 50 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
- 58
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 157 total · 58 in this make and model · 67 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SSF, 13 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.