- Date
- September 17, 2000, 10:35 local (14:35 UTC)
- Place
- Gettysburg, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9354EAeronca 11AC-991
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 17, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000917038999A
- Case key
- 50304
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 maintain control of the airplane after landing which resulted in the inadvertent ground loop.
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
A pilot witnessed the airplane flare 'about 3-4 feet too high,' and touched down hard on the right main landing gear. The airplane then immediately veered 40-50 degrees to the right and headed toward a line of parked airplanes. The airplane struck a parked airplane, rotated on its right wing tip and came to rest on the nose cowling. The pilot stated in a written narrative, 'what occurred was a 'ground loop' after touchdown...'
Factual narrative
On September 17, 2000, about 1035 Eastern Daylight Time, an Aeronca 11AC-991, N9354E, was substantially damaged while landing at the Gettysburg Airport, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The certificated recreational pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to a pilot, he observed the accident airplane land on Runway 24, a 3,096-foot long, 40-foot wide, asphalt runway. The airplane flared "about 3-4 feet too high," and touched down hard on the right main landing gear. The airplane then immediately veered 40-50 degrees to the right and headed toward a line of parked airplanes.
The airplane struck a parked airplane, rotated on its right wing tip and came to rest on the nose cowling.
The pilot stated in a written narrative, "what occurred was a 'ground loop' after touchdown..."
The winds reported at an airport located about 18 miles to the east of the accident site, at 1053, were from 250 degrees at 9 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9354E
- Reported as
- Aeronca 11AC-991
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 991
- Airframe hours
- 749
- Engine
- Continental A-65-8F, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Charles J. Milheim
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 4, 2000 · 23 hours before
- Departed
- 8N8 · Danville, PA
- Destination
- W05
- Airport
- W05 · Gettysburg Airport, runway 24, 3,096 × 40 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
- 43
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 69 total · 20 in this make and model · 40 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- THV, 18 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 N9354E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.