- Date
- May 27, 2015, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Richfield, UT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N16708Cessna 305
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 27, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20150527007759A
- Case key
- 91288
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 loss of directional control during landing, which resulted in a ground loop.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that while landing, the airspeed was too high and the airplane bounced after making contact with the runway. The airplane came down on the runway 20 degrees right of runway heading and the pilot corrected by applying the left brake. The right main landing gear wheel separated from the gear leg and the airplane veered left into a ground loop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and aileron. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that while landing, the airspeed was too high and the airplane bounced after making contact with the runway. The airplane came down on the runway 20 degrees right of runway heading and the pilot corrected by applying the left brake. The right main landing gear wheel separated from the gear leg and the airplane veered left into a ground loop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and aileron. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N16708
- Reported as
- Cessna 305 (A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2016
- Built
- 1967
- Airframe hours
- 2,468
- Engine
- Continental O470-15, 213 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 9, 2015
- Departed
- GJT · Grand Junction, CO
- Destination
- RIF · Richfield, UT
- Airport
- RIF · Richfield Muni, runway 19, 7,100 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Electronic primary flight display, Satellite tracking device
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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- August 16, 2014
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,742 total · 722 in this make and model · 3,672 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- KMLF, 47 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 8, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 MB in all.
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 N16708 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.