- Date
- September 16, 2007, 14:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Compton, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1844QCessna 177RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 31, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20070916020919A
- Case key
- 66756
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 misjudged the flare resulting in a hard landing and loss of aircraft 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 landed hard, ballooned into the air, and rotated on its wing before coming to rest 180 degrees from its original direction of travel. The pilot reported that he was caught by a gust of wind during the landing flare. A witness to the accident reported that the airplane landed hard. When it came back down, the propeller blades struck the runway, and the airplane "cartwheeled" around 180 degrees. The pilot reported no mechanical problems with the airplane.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, he had configured the airplane for landing with full flaps. As he flared to land, a sudden gust of wind flipped the airplane over onto the left wing. The pilot reported no mechanical problems with the airplane.
The pilot reported to the FAA that he had flared for landing at 65 knots. He was about 2 to 3 feet agl when the airplane spun around, and came to rest facing the runway.
A witness to the accident, a CFI, told the FAA that the airplane landed hard, and ballooned into the air in a nose high attitude. When it came back down, the propeller blades struck the runway, and the airplane "cartwheeled" around 180 degrees from its direction of travel. He noted that the winds were calm at the time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1844Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 177RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 177RG0244
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6D, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- HHR · Hawthorne, CA
- Destination
- CPM · Compton, CA
- Airport
- CPM · Compton/Woodley Airport, runway 25L, 3,322 × 60 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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 450 total · 150 in this make and model · 411 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- HHR, 5 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.
Other investigations on N1844Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.