- Date
- May 29, 1997, 14:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Tracy, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3937TTaylorcraft F19
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 10, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970529013849A
- Case key
- 29809
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 compensation for a crosswind gust, and his failure to maintain runway alignment after encountering the wind gust.
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 was practicing touch-and-go landings on runway 29. During the landing flare at 15 feet above the surface, a wind gust was encountered from 340 degrees at 20 knots. The pilot reported that the airplane yawed 45 degrees left, and the gust pushed the airplane off the runway. The pilot applied full engine power to recover; however, directional control was lost. The airplane exited the left side of the runway and collided with a fence.
Factual narrative
On May 29, 1997, at 1400 hours Pacific daylight time, a Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation F19, N3937T, owned and operated by the pilot, collided with a fence during an attempted landing on runway 29 at the Tracy, California, airport. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the personal flight, and no flight plan was filed for the local area flight which commenced from Tracy at 1300.
The pilot reported that the accident occurred while he was practicing touch-and-go landings. The pilot indicated that he encountered a wind gust during the landing flare at 15 feet above the surface of runway 29. The gust was from 340 degrees at 20 knots. He stated that the gust pushed the airplane off the runway. The nose of the airplane yawed 45 degrees left, and the pilot applied full engine power to recover. Unable to maintain directional control, the airplane exited the left side of the runway and collided with a fence. The pilot also reported that no mechanical malfunctions or failures precipitated the collision.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3937T
- Reported as
- Taylorcraft F19
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- F-120
- Airframe hours
- 1,065
- Engine
- Continental O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Olaf Asmis
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 15, 1996 · 29 hours before
- Departed
- TCY
- Airport
- TCY · Tracy, runway 29, 3,680 × 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
- 55
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 304 total · 76 in this make and model · 127 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 14 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
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 N3937T · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.