- Date
- November 22, 1998, 14:10 local (20:10 UTC)
- Place
- Fayetteville, AR
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N54959Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981122047049A
- Case key
- 45361
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 wind conditions resulting in a loss of directional control. A factor was the shifting and gusty 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 pilot lost control of the aircraft during landing flare while landing on runway 16. The pilot stated that the wind had 'shifted and gusted,' pushing the airplane to the left side of the runway just prior to touch down. He added that he did not have enough time to react prior to impacting a taxiway marker and taxiway light. The winds at the time of the accident were reported from 190 degrees at 16 knots.
Factual narrative
On November 22, 1998, at 1410 central standard time, a Cessna 172P airplane, N54959, was substantially damaged during landing at the Fayetteville Municipal Airport near Fayetteville, Arkansas. The non-instrument rated private pilot and his passenger were not injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by Robertson Aviation of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight which originated from the Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. Airport near Tulsa, Oklahoma, at 1315.
During a telephone interview conducted by the NTSB investigator-in-charge, the 134 hour pilot stated that while landing on runway 16, "the wind shifted and gusted, pushing the airplane to the left side of the runway." According to the pilot, he was unable to react quick enough with rudder or power and impacted a taxiway marker and taxiway light.
At 1353, the wind at the Fayetteville Municipal Airport was reported from 190 degrees at 16 knots. Weather reports at the time of the accident did not reveal any gusts.
Examination of the airplane, by the FAA inspector, revealed that the left main landing gear was collapsed, the empenage was bent, and the horizontal stabilizer main spars were bent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N54959
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17275091
- Airframe hours
- 4,224
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robertson Aviation
- Registered owner
- Deanna D. Robertson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 15, 1998 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- RUS · Tulsa, OK
- Destination
- FYV
- Airport
- FYV · Drake Field, runway 16, 6,006 × 100 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 134 total · 133 in this make and model · 63 as pilot in command · 61 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 16 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FYV
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.