- Date
- November 3, 1997, 12:50 local (17:50 UTC)
- Place
- Crystal River, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4105FCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 2, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971103031699A
- Case key
- 38424
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The certified flight instructors improper supervision of the rated pilot during a crosswind landing resulting in an in-flight collision with the left wing of the airplane and the runway, subsequent loss of directional control on landing rollout, and collision with an embankment.
Analysis
The certified flight instructor stated the rated student pilot was making a crosswind landing. He encountered a strong gust of wind, lifting the right wing up. The left wing collided with the runway. The airplane veered to the left, departed the runway, and collided with an embankment.
Factual narrative
On November 3, 1997, about 1250 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172, N4105F, registered to Candy Can Do Inc., leased by Crystal Aero Group Inc, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, crashed on landing at Crystal River Airport, Crystal River, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The certified flight instructor and private pilot receiving instruction reported no injuries. The flight originated from Inverness, Florida, about 1 hour 20 minutes before the accident.
The CFI stated the student rated private pilot was flying the airplane and entered the traffic pattern for a left downwind to runway 27. He encountered a crosswind from the right on short final and started his landing flare at about 20 feet. A strong gust of wind caught the right wing, lifting it, and the left wing collided with the runway. The airplane veered to the left, departed the runway and collided with an embankment.
Review of weather information obtained from Gainesville Automated Flight Service Station, for the period of the accident revealed no recorded record of turbulence, downdrafts, gusts, or windshear.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4105F
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 46005
- Engine
- Continental O-300D-2-2, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Crystal Aero Group Inc
- Registered owner
- Lee Sears
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 16, 1997
- Departed
- X-41 · Inverness, FL
- Destination
- X-31
- Airport
- X31 · Crystal River Airport, runway 27, 4,300 × 60 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
- 50
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 4,867 total · 320 in this make and model · 4,800 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Observed at
- GNV, 55 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.
Other investigations on N4105F · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.