- Date
- May 19, 2002, 09:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Show Low, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4338BCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 23, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flt Standards Dist Office
- Case key
- 54735
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing resulted in a loss of aircraft control. A factor was a sudden wind shift on final approach.
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 made a hard landing when, about 20 feet above the ground on final approach, the wind shifted from a headwind to a direct crosswind. The airplane dropped and bounced. The pilot tried to recover with full power, but the stalled wing fell and hit the ground. The airplane cartwheeled and sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage.
Factual narrative
On May 19, 2002, about 0915 mountain standard time, a Cessna 170B, N4338B, made a hard landing at Show Low, Arizona. The owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona, about 0800. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot stated that about 20 feet above the ground on final approach, the wind shifted from a headwind to a direct crosswind. The airplane dropped and bounced. The pilot tried to recover with full power, but he said the stalled wing fell and hit the ground. The airplane cartwheeled and sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4338B
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 26682
- Engine
- Continental o-360, 140 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Joe F. West
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 10, 2002 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- FFZ · Mesa, AZ
- Destination
- SOW · Show Low, AZ
- Airport
- SOW · Show Low
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
- 42
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 105 total · 48 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- SOW
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 3, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 346 KB in all.
Other investigations on N4338B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.