- Date
- June 26, 1996, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Edinboro, PA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3788VCessna 140A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960626046969A
- Case key
- 39200
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 flare, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent nose over. The tailwind was a related factor.
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 pilot was on his first flight to this private airstip. During touchdown, the airplane landed hard and nosed over. According to the pilot, he 'spent about one-half hour locating the field . . . made a low pass to inspect runway, then flew pattern to land. I had been advised runway was uphill to the east, so landed with slight quartering tailwind. I was high on approach, so I side-slipped to lose altitude. When I kicked the airplane out of the slip. I had insufficient airspeed to totally arrest descent, and landed very hard and flipped over.' The pilot reported no mechanical malfunction.
Factual narrative
On June 28, 1996, about 1430 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 140A, N3788V, landed hard and nosed over during landing at a private field at Edinboro, Pennsylvania. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. The flight originated in Meadville, Pennsylvania at 1400. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot was on his first flight to this private field. According to the pilot, he "spent about one-half hour locating the field . . . made a low pass to inspect runway, then flew pattern to land. I had been advised runway was uphill to the east, so landed with slight quartering tailwind. I was high on approach, so I side slipped to lose altitude. When I kickedthe airplane out of the slip. I had insufficient airspeed to totally arrest descent, and landed very hard and flipped over."
The pilot reported no mechanical malfunction. He stated the accident could have been prevented if he had performed a go-around.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3788V
- Reported as
- Cessna 140A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15209
- Airframe hours
- 3,807
- Engine
- Continental C-90-14, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Michele Vida
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 10, 1996 · 34 hours before
- Departed
- 2G6 · Meadville, PA
- Destination
- PN06
- Airport
- 97PA · Willow, runway 11, 2,100 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 71
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,700 total · 1,614 in this make and model · 2,670 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.