- Date
- March 10, 2006, 23:30 local (Mar 11, 2006, 06:30 UTC)
- Place
- Mesa, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N89166Cessna 140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report May 30, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20060310004069A
- Case key
- 63334
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 use of the flight controls during landing, which resulted in a nose over.
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 nosed over during landing. The pilot noted light precipitation in the area and calm winds as he entered the pattern for landing. On short final he noticed a glossy looking runway and encountered light rain drops on the windscreen. He did a wheel landing and as the airplane rolled out, it drifted right of centerline. As he input corrective action for the right drift, he continued to hold the tail wheel off of the ground in order to maintain the best forward visibility. During these corrective actions, the airplane pitched forward and nosed over, coming to rest inverted. The pilot said the airplane did not have any mechanical malfunctions or failures.
Factual narrative
On March 10, 2006, at 2330 mountain standard time, a Cessna 140, N89166, nosed over during the landing roll at Falcon Field Airport, Mesa, Arizona. The airplane sustained substantial damage; the private pilot and one passenger were not injured. The pilot was operating the airplane, that was registered to a private company, under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot departed from Phoenix International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, and was landing at his destination when the accident occurred.
In the pilot's written statement, he said that upon entering the traffic pattern for landing, he noted light precipitation in the area and calm winds. On short final he noticed a glossy looking runway and encountered light rain drops on the windscreen. He did a wheel landing and as the airplane rolled out, it drifted right of centerline. As he input corrective action for the right drift, he continued to hold the tail wheel off of the ground in order to maintain the best forward visibility. During these corrective actions, the airplane pitched forward and nosed over, coming to rest inverted. The airplane did not have any mechanical malfunctions or failures.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N89166
- Reported as
- Cessna 140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 8180
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental C85-12F, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John Trotter
- Registered owner
- Falcon Group LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
- Destination
- FFZ · Mesa, AZ
- Airport
- FFZ · Falcon Field, runway 22L, 5,102 × 100 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
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 315 total · 14 in this make and model · 18 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.76 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.