- Date
- March 19, 1999, 15:35 local (23:35 UTC)
- Place
- Reno, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5242RCessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990319002309A
- Case key
- 45939
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate compensation for the crosswind condition and his failure to maintain runway alignment during the crosswind landing.
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 had received an endorsement for this solo cross-country originating at Reno with a landing at the Susanville Municipal Airport, and a return to the Reno Airport. The student pilot stated he encountered 10-knot winds from 150 degrees with slight gusts during his approach. He applied 10 degrees of flaps and maintained a left wing down attitude. He then unexpectedly encountered a stronger left-to-right crosswind and he could not maintain runway alignment. The left wing struck a metal ILS antennae, causing the wing strut to bend and pop rivets.
Factual narrative
On March 19, 1999, at 1535 hours Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172M, N5242R, veered off runway 16L and collided with a metal ILS antennae while landing at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada. The aircraft was on the return leg of a solo cross-country flight that had departed the Susanville Municipal Airport in Susanville, California, under 14 CFR Part 91. The aircraft, owned and operated by Nevada-Cal Aero of Reno, sustained substantial damage. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was filed. The flight departed from Susanville at 1300.
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector from the Reno Flight Standards District Office was on scene when the accident occurred. In an oral statement to the inspector, the student pilot stated he encountered 10-knot winds from 150 degrees with slight gusts during his approach. He applied 10 degrees of flaps in a left wing down attitude. He then unexpectedly encountered a left-to-right crosswind which proceeded to "blow the aircraft off the runway." The left wing struck a metal ILS antennae, causing the wing strut to bend and pop rivets.
The student pilot had received an endorsement for this solo cross-country originating at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, with a landing at the Susanville Municipal Airport, and a final destination to return to the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. He had approximately 70 hours logged, of which 24 hours were solo flight time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5242R
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17263456
- Airframe hours
- 6,400
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Nevada-Cal Aero Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 17, 1999 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- SVE · Susanville, CA
- Destination
- RNO
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- RNO · Reno Tahoe Intl, runway 16L, 9,000 × 150 ft, concrete
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 69 total · 67 in this make and model · 22 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RNO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.