- Date
- September 10, 1994, 14:22 local (18:22 UTC)
- Place
- Richmond, VA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3091BCessna 195 B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 7, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940910048419A
- Case key
- 38831
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 directional control which resulted in a ground loop. Contributing factors are excessive airspeed, fatigue, and improper recovery from a bounced landing.
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 ground looped during the landing roll. The pilot reported: ' . . . I did not recognize my level of fatigue from a difficult and long flight. After beginning the approach . . . I found myself slightly low on final. With the addition of power to slow the descent, my final approach speed was higher than needed. The touchdown was fast, and the airplane bounced. I was unable to maintain directional control, and the airplane groundlooped . . . '
Factual narrative
On September 10, 1994, at 1422 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 195, N3091B, operated by Elizabeth A. Copland-Leckey, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, ground looped while landing at Richmond Airport, Richmond, Virginia. The pilot and three passengers were not injured. The airplane received substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and the flight was operated on an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot reported the flight originated in Ann Arbor, with a fuel stop in Zanesville, Ohio. Upon arrival at Richmond, she was cleared for a visual approach to runway 2.
In the NTSB Accident Report, the pilot stated:
...I did not recognize my level of fatigue from a difficult and long flight. After beginning the approach...I found myself slightly low on final. With the addition of power to slow the descent, my final approach speed was higher than needed. The touchdown was fast, and the airplane bounced. I was unable to maintain direction control and the airplane groundlooped....
The pilot reported the winds as light and variable.
The airplane was examined by FAA Airworthiness Inspector Bob Culberson, from the Richmond Flight Standards District Office. He reported the left wing was bent up about 4 feet from the tip and the left landing gear was ripped out and folded under the fuselage. In addition there were wrinkles on the left side of the fuselage.
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with an instrument rating. She reported her total time as 725 hours and 25 hours flown in the preceding 90 days. She reported her total time in the Cessna 195 as 60 hours, with 12 hours in the preceding 90 days, and 4 1/2 hours on the day of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3091B
- Reported as
- Cessna 195 B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7976
- Airframe hours
- 3,133
- Engine
- Jacobs R-775B-2, 275 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Elizabeth A. Copland-Leckey
- Registered owner
- Donald A. Leckey
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 20, 1994 · 65 hours before
- Departed
- ZZV · Zanesville, OH
- Destination
- RIC · RI
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- RIC · Richmond, runway 2, 5,653 × 150 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 725 total · 70 in this make and model · 725 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
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 N3091B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.