- Date
- January 26, 1999, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Guymon, OK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N5606TCessna 172E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 25, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990126028489A
- Case key
- 45655
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 maintain aircraft control. A factor was the gusty 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
The single engine airplane, piloted by the airline transport rated pilot (sole occupant) flipped to the inverted position in gusting winds while taxiing for takeoff. When the pilot turned the airplane left 90 degrees for entry onto the runway, the left wing lifted into the air and the propeller struck the ground. The automatic weather station reported the winds from 220 degrees at 29 knots gusting to 35 knots. The pilot reported 'strong gusty winds' from 170 degrees at 27 knots with gusts to 41 knots. The operator recalled the winds were from the south at 30 knots gusting to 35 knots. The 4,300 hour pilot had 610 hours in make and model.
Factual narrative
On January 26, 1999, at 1500 central standard time, a Cessna 172E airplane, N5606T, flipped over in gusting winds while taxiing for takeoff at the Guymon Municipal Airport, Guymon, Oklahoma. The single engine airplane was owned and operated by a private individual under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the airline transport rated pilot, sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the planned cross country flight from Guymon to Amarillo, Texas. A flight plan was not filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
During interviews, conducted by the investigator-in-charge, the pilot and the owner of the aircraft reported that the pilot checked the weather. The pilot reported the winds from 170 degrees at 27 knots with gusts to 41 knots. The operator recalled the winds were from the south at 30 knots gusting to 35 knots. The pilot taxied the airplane downwind for the takeoff on runway 18. When the pilot turned the airplane 90 degrees for entry onto the runway, the left wing lifted into the air and the propeller struck the ground. The pilot called the fixed base operator for assistance and several people responded and tried to keep the airplane from flipping; however, the airplane flipped to the inverted position. Structural damage occurred to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and empennage.
At 1453 the automatic weather station for Guymon, Oklahoma, reported the winds from 220 degrees at 29 knots gusting to 35 knots. The peak gust was reported as 38 knots at 1429.
The pilot reported a total flight time of 4,300 hours. He further reported having accumulated 610 hours in the make and model of aircraft that he was taxiing at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5606T
- Reported as
- Cessna 172E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17251506
- Airframe hours
- 7,100
- Engine
- Continental O-300, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Denny O'Hara, doing business as O'Haras Flying Service, Inc.
- Registered owner
- O'Haras Flying Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 11, 1998 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- AMA · Amarillo, TX
- Destination
- AMA · Amarillo, TX
- Airport
- GUY · Guyman Municipal, runway 18, 5,900 × 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
- 31
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,300 total · 610 in this make and model · 3,950 as pilot in command · 300 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 29 knots, gusting 35
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GUY
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 N5606T · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.