- Date
- April 6, 1998, 11:34 local (18:34 UTC)
- Place
- Prescott, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N125SUBellanca BL17-30A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980406005899A
- Case key
- 30064
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 failure to attain directional control after swerving off the runway and impacting a ditch.
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 aircraft veered left after landing and encountered a drainage ditch that ran parallel to the runway surface.
Factual narrative
On April 6, 1998, at 1134 hours mountain standard time, a Bellanca BL17-30A, N125SU, was substantially damaged when it veered to the left off of runway 21L at Love Field, Prescott, Arizona, and encountered a drainage ditch that ran parallel to the runway surface. There were minor injuries to the solo private pilot and no property damage. The flight departed from Lordsburg, New Mexico, on a visual, personal flight and no flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
The pilot stated in his accident report that he felt that the actual surface wind conditions at the landing runway were not the same as those reported by the ATIS, and that the accident would not have occurred had the drainage ditch been covered. However, the airport is a tower controlled field and the current runway wind conditions are broadcast to any pilot requesting landing. Also, an investigation of the airport terrain indicated that the drainage ditch is approximately 6 feet deep and 24 feet wide with a side slope of 14 degrees, and is located 600 feet from the centerline of the runway that it parallels. He reported no mechanical malfunctions with the aircraft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N125SU
- Reported as
- Bellanca BL17-30A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 76-30838
- Engine
- Continental IO-520K, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Stephen D. Uslan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 22, 1997 · 120 hours before
- Departed
- LSB · Lordsburg, NM
- Destination
- PRC
- Airport
- PRC · Earnest A. Love Field, runway 21L, 7,616 × 150 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
- 59
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 8,097 total · 300 in this make and model · 8,040 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PRC, 1 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.