- Date
- August 26, 2007, 09:27 local (13:27 UTC)
- Place
- Julian, WV
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Other
- Aircraft
- N6670ACessna 172
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20070826829859A
- Case key
- 66509
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 inadequate preflight planning. Contributing to the accident were the overcast cloud conditions and the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll.
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 non-instrument-rated pilot of the Cessna 172 reported that he and a passenger took off in clear skies for an early morning breakfast at an airport about 125 nautical miles to the northeast. Upon reaching the destination, the pilot found he could not descend below a cloud layer, and opted to return to the departure airport. Upon arrival at that airport, it was also covered by a low cloud layer, so the pilot continued to the south, toward rising terrain, to find a suitable airport to land. About 15 miles away, he found a hole in clouds and descended. With continued low ceilings and low fuel, the pilot made a precautionary landing to a field. During the landing roll, the pilot "lost control" of the airplane. The right wingtip struck the ground, then the left main landing gear folded inboard, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the outboard 3 feet of the left wing bent upwards about 30 degrees. The pilot did not obtain a weather briefing or file a flight plan, and no mechanical anomalies were noted with the airplane.
Factual narrative
According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the non-instrument-rated pilot of the Cessna 172 reported that he and a passenger took off in clear skies for an early morning breakfast at an airport about 125 nautical miles to the northeast. Upon reaching the destination, the pilot found he could not descend below a cloud layer, and opted to return to the departure airport. Upon arrival at that airport, it was also covered by a low cloud layer, so the pilot continued to the south, toward rising terrain, to find a suitable airport to land. About 15 miles away, he found a hole in clouds and descended. With continued low ceilings and low fuel, the pilot made a precautionary landing to a field. During the landing roll, the pilot "lost control" of the airplane. The right wingtip struck the ground, then the left main landing gear folded inboard, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the outboard 3 feet of the left wing bent upwards about 30 degrees. The pilot did not obtain a weather briefing or file a flight plan, and no mechanical anomalies were noted with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6670A
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28770
- Engine
- Continental O-300, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dale W. Holstein
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- WV12 · Mallory, WV
- Destination
- MGW · Morgantown, WV
- Airport
- WV12 · Mallory, runway 33
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
- 56
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 2,000 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
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 N6670A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.