- Date
- August 1, 2002, 07:35 local (14:35 UTC)
- Place
- St. Johns, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2233DCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
- FAA report
- 20020801016889A
- Case key
- 55379
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 selection of the wrong runway for the existing crosswind condition and his subsequent inadequate compensation for the winds, which led to a failure to maintain directional control and a ground loop.
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 attempted to make a three-point touchdown with a known crosswind and the airplane ground looped, veered off the runway, and collided with an airport boundary fence. Just after touchdown on runway 14, a ground loop commenced, and the airplane veered to the right. Left brake and rudder were applied in order to regain control, whereupon the airplane ran off the east side of the runway. The pilot decided to abort the landing and applied full power in an attempt to get the airplane airborne and under control, but the left wingtip contacted the ground. The airplane then struck a fence, impacted the ground, nosed over, and came to rest inverted. The automated surface observation system (ASOS) was reporting winds from 240 at 11 knots about 20 minutes after the accident. Runway 21 was available at the airport for the landing.
Factual narrative
On August 1, 2002, at 0735 mountain standard time, a Cessna 170B, N2233D, ground looped off the runway, hit a fence, and nosed over, while landing at St. Johns Industrial Air Park (SJN), St. Johns, Arizona. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the local area personal flight that originated about 0700.
The pilot indicated that he was the last of a group of five aircraft to arrive at St. Johns and chose to land on runway 14, as the other members in the group had done. He was aware that a crosswind, "light and from the southwest," was present. Upon the attempted three-point touchdown, the airplane ground looped to the right. Left brake and rudder were applied, and the airplane veered off the east side of the runway. Noticing that the terrain dropped away on that side of the runway, the pilot added power and removed carburetor heat, in order to fly toward the lowering terrain and regain control of the airplane. However, the left wing tip made contact with soft terrain and the airplane struck a chain link fence while in flight. As a result, the airplane struck the ground nose first, and nosed over. The airplane came to rest inverted about 100 feet from the runway.
The automated surface observation system (ASOS) for St. Johns was reporting winds from 240 at 11 knots at 0754.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2233D
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20385
- Airframe hours
- 3,951
- Engine
- Continental C-145, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Thomas D. Lynch
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 10, 2001 · 17 hours before
- Departed
- AZ82 · Overgaard, AZ
- Destination
- SJN · St. Johns, AZ
- Airport
- SJN · St. Johns Industrial Air Park, runway 14, 5,323 × 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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- July 30, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 754 total · 106 in this make and model · 713 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- KSJN
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 12, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 596 KB 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.