- Date
- July 31, 2004, 13:35 local (17:35 UTC)
- Place
- Wimauma, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N89617Cessna 140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 3, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20040731027949A
- Case key
- 59865
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 improper in-flight weather evaluation by the student pilot resulting in a downwind landing and subsequent nose over.
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 stated that after departure he elected to divert to the Wimauma Air Park to visit with a mechanic about an annual inspection to his airplane. He circled over the center of the runway at the Wimauma Air Park, and entered the traffic pattern for runway 09; the windsock indicated the wind was calm. He turned base then final and touched down in a three-point attitude with full flaps extended, then bounced approximately 1 foot. He eased forward on the control yoke and the main landing gears contacted the runway, while he held the control yoke neutral. The airplane then "nosed over" suddenly coming to rest inverted. He exited the airplane and noted every couple of minutes a gust of wind from the west at 25-30 miles-per-hour. He further reported there was no discrepancy with the flight controls or brakes, and there was, "no problem with the aircraft." A witness on the field reported that at the time of the accident, the wind was from the west at 5-7 knots; there were no gusts at the time of the accident. During the day, the wind had been from either the southwest or west; the wind direction was changing due to a thunderstorm that was located south of the field. The witness also reported there are 2 fully operational windsocks located on the airport; both are located south of the south edge of runway 09/27, and near the approach end of runway 09.
Factual narrative
On July 31, 2004, about 1335 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 140, N89617, listed with the FAA as "Sale Reported", and operated by a private individual, nosed over during the landing roll at the Wimauma Air Park, Wimauma, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight from South Lakeland Airport, Mulberry, Florida, to Airport Manatee, Palmetto, Florida. The airplane was substantially damaged and the student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated about 1300, from the South Lakeland Airport.
The pilot stated that after departure he elected to divert to the Wimauma Air Park to visit with a mechanic about an annual inspection to his airplane. He circled over the center of the runway at Wimauma Air Park, and entered the traffic pattern for runway 09; the windsock indicated the wind was calm. He turned base then final and touched down in a three-point attitude with full flaps extended, then bounced approximately 1 foot. He eased forward on the control yoke and the main landing gears contacted the runway, while he held the control yoke neutral. The airplane then "nosed over" suddenly coming to rest inverted. He exited the airplane and noted every couple of minutes a gust of wind from the west at 25-30 miles-per-hour. He further reported there was no discrepancy with the flight controls or brakes, and there was, "no problem with the aircraft."
A witness on the field reported that at the time of the accident, the wind was from the west at 5-7 knots; there were no gusts at the time of the accident. During the day, the wind had been from either the southwest or west; the wind direction was changing due to a thunderstorm that was located south of the field. The witness also reported there are two fully operational windsocks located on the airport; both are located south of the south edge of runway 09/27, and near the approach end of runway 09.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N89617
- Reported as
- Cessna 140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 8664
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12F, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert Mueller
- Registered owner
- "Sale Reported"
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- X49 · Mulberry, FL
- Destination
- FD77 · Wimauma, FL
- Airport
- FD77 · Wimauma Air Park, runway 09
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 113 total · 113 in this make and model · 56 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.