- Date
- April 20, 2001, 13:55 local (17:55 UTC)
- Place
- Quinton, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N20AKCessna 337F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 21, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO-21
- FAA report
- 20010420025529A
- Case key
- 52120
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing. Factors in the accident were the crosswind, and the pilot's lack of experience in make and model.
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 airplane was on approach to runway 28, a 3,600 foot-long, 75 foot-wide, asphalt runway. The pilot stated he encountered a "strong gust or shear," which pushed the airplane up and to the right and had almost completed the correction from the right edge of the runway to the center line, when "the bottom dropped out." The airplane bounced, began to porpoise and the right wing and front propeller contacted the runway. The airplane then veered off the right side of the runway and entered a ditch. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any pre-impact malfunctions; nor did the pilot report any. The pilot obtained his multi-engine private pilot rating about 1 month prior to the accident. The pilot reported about 1,100 hours of total flight experience, which included 25 hours of multi-engine flight experience. Prior to the accident flight, the pilot accumulated 15 hours of flight experience in the accident airplane, all with a flight instructor. Winds reported at an airport about 11 miles west of the accident site, were from 200 degrees at 14 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 20, 2001, about 1355 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 337F, N20AK, was substantially damaged while landing at the New Kent County Airport (W96), Quinton, Virginia. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In a written statement, the pilot said he departed runway 28, a 3,600 foot-long, 75 foot-wide, asphalt runway, and remained in the traffic pattern. The pilot had completed a full stop landing and a simulated go-around, and was on his third approach to the runway, when he encountered a "strong gust or shear," which pushed the airplane up and to the right. The pilot further stated, "I had almost completed the correction from the right edge [of the runway] to the center line when the bottom dropped out, dropping me about 10 to 12 feet to the runway..." The airplane bounced, began to porpoise, and the right wing and front propeller contacted the runway. The airplane then veered off the right side of the runway, and entered a ditch.
Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector did not reveal any pre-impact malfunctions; nor did the pilot report any.
According to FAA records, the pilot obtained his multi-engine private pilot rating on March 16, 2001.
The pilot reported about 1,100 hours of total flight experience, which included 25 hours of multi-engine flight experience. Prior to the accident flight, the pilot accumulated 15 hours of flight experience in the accident airplane, all with a flight instructor .
Winds reported at an airport about 11 miles west of W96, at 1354, were from 200 degrees at 14 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N20AK
- Reported as
- Cessna 337F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 33701369
- Airframe hours
- 1,940
- Engines
- Continental IO-360, 210 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental IO-360, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Norman H. Valor
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 12, 2001 · 82 hours before
- Departed
- W96 · Quinton, VA
- Destination
- W96 · Quinton, VA
- Airport
- W96 · New Kent County, runway 28, 3,600 × 75 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- March 19, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,099 total · 16 in this make and model · 1,001 as pilot in command · 26 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- RIC, 9 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.