- Date
- October 20, 2015, 17:50 local (23:50 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Benton, MT
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N76001Cessna 140
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
- Case key
- 92210
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
A hard landing which resulted in a loss of directional control, main landing gear collapse, and damage to the left wing spar.
Findings · 4
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 he landed with a 5 to 8 knot tailwind and landed hard. The pilot lost directional control of the airplane and side loaded the landing gear which caused the left main landing gear to collapse and the left wing impacted the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing spar. 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 he landed with a 5 to 8 knot tailwind and landed hard. The pilot lost directional control of the airplane and side loaded the landing gear which caused the left main landing gear to collapse and the left wing impacted the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing spar. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N76001
- Reported as
- Cessna 140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 10395
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 1,556
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 22, 2008
- Departed
- 79S · Fort Benton, MT
- Destination
- 79S · Fort Benton, MT
- Airport
- 79S · Fort Benton, runway 23, 4,300 × 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
- 79
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,538 total · 1,538 in this make and model · 1,538 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- KGFA, 30 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 20, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.5 MB in all.
Other investigations on N76001 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.