- Date
- October 30, 1994, 16:45 local (Oct 31, 1994, 00:45 UTC)
- Place
- Tonopah, NV
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N8210UCessna 172F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 5, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19941030036929A
- Case key
- 28975
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 excessive taxi speed and improper remedial action after the nose gear began to shimmy. The nose gear shimmy (nose gear vibration) and the berm were factors in this accident.
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 reported that he was taxiing in a southeasterly direction with a right quartering tailwind. He said he tried to keep the airplane's taxi speed slow and was applying minimum power with the control yoke forwqrd (elevator down). While taxiing, the airplane's nose landing gear began to shimmy. The pilot pulled the control yoke back and applied braking to correct the nose shimmy. He said that the wind raised the tail and the airplane began to 'wheelbarrow' on the nosegear and turned to the left. The airplane exited the taxiway and entered onto the soft dirt next to the taxiway. The airplane collided with a berm and nosed over.
Factual narrative
On October 30, 1994, at 1645 hours Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172F, N8210U, lost control, exited the taxiway, and nosed over while taxiing for takeoff on runway 33 at Tonopah Airport, Tonopah, Nevada. The pilot was beginning the second leg of a visual flight rules personal flight. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. Neither the certificated private pilot nor his passenger was injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators conducted a telephone interview with the pilot on October 30, 1994. The pilot said that as the airplane approached the runway threshold a gust of wind "blew it off the taxiway." When the nose gear entered the soft terrain, it dug into the ground and the airplane nosed over.
The pilot said in the aircraft accident report, NTSB Form 6120.1/2, that he was taxiing in a southeasterly direction with a left quartering tailwind. He said he tried to keep the airplane's taxi slow and was applying minimum power with the control yoke forward (elevator down). While taxiing, the airplane's nose landing gear began to shimmy. The pilot pulled the control yoke back and applied braking to correct the nose shimmy. He said that the wind raised the tail and the airplane began to "wheelbarrow" on the nosegear and turned to the left.
The airplane exited the taxiway and entered onto the soft dirt next to the taxiway. The airplane collided with a berm and nosed over.
The Tonopah Airport surface winds at 1650 hours were from 290 degrees at 10 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8210U
- Reported as
- Cessna 172F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17252110
- Airframe hours
- 5,411
- Engine
- Lycoming O-300-D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William L. Wells
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 15, 1994 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- TPH
- Destination
- WVI · Watsonville, CA
- Airport
- TPH · Tonopah, runway 33, 6,162 × 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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 798 total · 748 in this make and model · 736 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TPH
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.