- Date
- October 19, 2003, 17:00 local (Oct 20, 2003, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- San Diego, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3979VCessna 170
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20031019034289A
- Case key
- 58216
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 inadequate preflight inspection which failed to determine the security of his seat, and his failure to maintain directional control.
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 airplane ground looped off the runway when the pilot's seat slid aft during landing. The pilot said that when he flared for landing he heard a "click" and then his seat slid backwards about 1 foot, restricting his ability to reach the controls. The pilot tried to adjust his seat position to regain access to the airplane's controls, but the airplane entered a left ground loop and came to rest left of the runway. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined and photographed the pilot's seat. He reported that the seat track locking pin was positioned outside the seat track. He observed that the side floor deck was buckled, the seat was structurally deformed, and the seat locking pin was outside the seat rail and roller, all indicative of impact related damage. The inspector stated that he could not make a reliable determination of pin position prior to the impact damage.
Factual narrative
On October 19, 2003, at 1700 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 170, N3979V, veered off the runway while landing at Montgomery Field, San Diego, California. Plus One Flyers was operating the rental airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The commercial pilot was not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed. The personal flight originated at MCAS Miramar, San Diego, about 1645.
The pilot told the National Transportation Safety Board investigator that as he flared for landing, the tail wheel touched the runway, and then he heard a "click." At that time the seat slid backwards about 1 foot, restricting his ability to reach the controls. The pilot tried to adjust his seated position to regain access to the airplane's controls, but the airplane entered a ground loop to the left and came to rest left of the runway.
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined and photographed the pilot's seat. He reported that the seat track locking pin was positioned outside the seat track. Examination of the photographs of the pilot's seat and rail showed that the side floor deck was buckled, the seat was structurally deformed, and the seat locking pin was positioned outside the seat rail and roller.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3979V
- Reported as
- Cessna 170
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18298
- Airframe hours
- 3,101
- Engine
- Continental C-145, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Plus One Flyers, doing business as Flying Club
- Registered owner
- Barron Elsworth
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 2, 2003 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- KNKX · San Diego, CA
- Destination
- KMYF · San Diego, CA
- Airport
- KMYF · Montgomery Field, runway 28, 4,577 × 150 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
- 35
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- November 22, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 382 total · 6 in this make and model · 336 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 340° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- KMYF
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 19, 2004, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 974 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.