- Date
- July 21, 1996, 09:10 local (16:10 UTC)
- Place
- Boulder City, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6389DCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 16, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960721018979A
- Case key
- 29518
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
a loss of directional control due to the student pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions and improper remedial action. Factors in the accident were crosswinds, inadvertent brake application, and failure to use the ailerons.
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 student pilot inadvertently applied the right brake while trying to correct for a right crosswind on runway 27L. The airplane's wheel locked up and the airplane skidded off the left side of the runway. The pilot did not use the ailerons to help maintain directional control. The airplane nosed over in soft soil damaging the vertical stabilizer. The winds at the airport were reported by a local fixed-base operation to be 170 degrees at 5 knots.
Factual narrative
On July 21, 1996, at 0910 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172, N6389D, nosed over after an on ground loss of control during landing on runway 27L at the Boulder City Municipal Airport, Boulder City, Nevada. The airplane was substantially damaged and the student pilot was not injured. The airplane was being operated as an instructional flight by Corporate Flight International, Las Vegas, Nevada. The flight originated in Las Vegas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
The student pilot indicated he was doing touch-and-go landings at the Boulder City Airport. On his seventh landing, a gust of wind from the right blew the airplane to the left. The pilot applied right pedal to correct the drift and inadvertently applied the brake, locking the wheel. The airplane skidded off the left side of the runway, struck a runway light, and nosed over in soft soil damaging the vertical stabilizer.
The closest official weather observation station is located 16 nautical miles northwest of the accident site in Las Vegas. At 0856 hours, a record surface observation was reporting in part, winds from 340 degrees at 3 knots. The winds at the airport after the accident were reported by a local fixed-base operation to be 170 degrees at 5 knots. Runway 27L is 4,800 feet long by 75 feet wide.
The FAA Flight Training Handbook, Advisory Circular 61-21A concerning crosswind landings states, "Special attention must be given to maintaining directional control by use of rudder, or nose wheel steering, while keeping the upwind wing from rising by use of aileron."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6389D
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17272775
- Airframe hours
- 3,774
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Corporate Flight International
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · July 15, 1996 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- LAS · Las Vegas, NV
- Destination
- 61B
- Airport
- 61B · Boulder City Municipal, runway 27L, 4,800 × 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 64 total · 49 in this make and model · 11 as pilot in command · 51 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAS, 16 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.