# NTSB GAA16CA492: Cessna 170, N8335A, Sidney, MT, September 10, 2016 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: September 10, 2016, 13:00 local (19:00 UTC) - Place: Sidney, MT - Coordinates: 47.706943, -104.192497 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=47.7069&lon=-104.1925&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Landing-landing roll: Landing gear collapse](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 3 uninjured - Status: Completed, report April 4, 2017 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: General Aviation Accidents - Parties: FAA - NTSB case key (mKey): 94031 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=GAA16CA492 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/94031/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=94031 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/GAA16CA492 ## Probable cause The student pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a bounced landing, and the flight instructor’s inability to recover the airplane, which resulted in a runway excursion. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Student/instructed pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 91 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 9,308 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md) - [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 91 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 9,308 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md) - [Performance/control parameters: landing flare](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 5 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041/cases.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 1,287 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041/cases.md) - [Performance/control parameters: directional control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 74 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 3,969 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Landing-flare/touchdown: Runway excursion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 37 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300/sequence.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 3,656 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300/sequence.md) - [Landing-landing roll: Landing gear collapse](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 9 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 1,789 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md) - [Landing-landing roll: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Cessna 170B, 52 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=2072306), [All aircraft, 10,152 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) ## Analysis The flight instructor reported that, during the instructional flight in a tailwheel-equipped airplane, the student pilot bounced the landing. The airplane bounced off the grass airstrip, and the flight instructor took the flight controls, but the airplane drifted to the left and into a drainage ditch. The flight instructor reported that he corrected with right rudder application to ease the airplane out of the ditch, but the left landing gear tire deflated, and the left wing and the tail struck the ground. The airplane yawed to the left, the instructor corrected the yaw, and the airplane rolled onto the runway and stopped. The left wing, left aileron, and the elevator sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have prevented normal operation. ## Factual narrative The flight instructor reported that during the instructional flight in a tailwheel equipped airplane, the student pilot bounced the landing. The airplane bounced off the grass airstrip and the flight instructor reported that he took the flight controls, but the airplane drifted to the left and into a drainage ditch. The flight instructor reported that he corrected with right rudder application to ease the airplane out of the ditch, but the left landing gear tire deflated and the left wing and the tail struck the ground. The airplane yawed to the left, the instructor corrected the yaw and the airplane rolled onto the runway and stopped. The left wing, left aileron and the elevator sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies prior to landing in the ditch that would have prevented normal flight operation. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N8335A](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N8335A), registered now, S/N 25187 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 170 (B) - Registry model: [Cessna 170B](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-170b) (registry code 2072306) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental C145 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c145-series) (registry code 17012, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 25187 - Year built: 1952 - Airframe hours: 3089 - Engines: CONTINENTAL C-145-2 145 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Instructional, Part 91 - Operator: Frontier Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditionin - Registered owner: Frontier Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditionin - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, July 26, 2016 - Departed: PO1, Poplar, MT - Destination: SDY, Sidney, MT - Airport: SDY, Sidney-Richland Municipal Airp, runway 29, 4,024 × 100 ft, grass/turf - Equipment: Stall warning system, Handheld GPS ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 52; injuries: none; flight instructor, commercial; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land, single-engine sea; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, without waivers/limitations; last flight review November 8, 2014; seat: right; restraint: lap only; flight hours: 15,000 total, 50 in this make and model, 13,000 as pilot in command, 100 in the last 90 days, 30 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours - Student pilot; age 44; injuries: none; student; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; seat: left; restraint: lap only; flight hours: 60 total, 6 in this make and model, 18 as pilot in command, 40 in the last 90 days, 5 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 190° at 14 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 72 °F, dew point 45 °F - Altimeter: 29.95 inHg - Observed at: KSDY, 1 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20160910017139A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20160910017139A), Sep 10, 2016: Cessna 170B, Sidney, MT, Substantial damage. While conducting initial flight instruction in a conventional gear aircraft equiped with oversized tires the student pilot bounced on landing, the CFI took… ## Docket (2 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 16, 2017, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=94031. 418 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 265 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40454457&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Master.PDF - Photos (Courtesy of FAA) (item 2, .PDF, 2 photos, 153 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40450025&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photos%20(Courtesy%20of%20FAA)-Master.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.