- Date
- September 16, 1996, 18:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Stow, MA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N737MDCessna 182
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960916028739A
- Case key
- 39242
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 misjudgment of speed and distance during the landing, and his failure to go around while there was sufficient runway remaining, which resulted in a runway overrun and an encounter with a soft terrain at the edge of a pond. Wet grass on the runway 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 practicing a short field landing on a 1600 foot long turf runway. He reported that his first approach was high, and he made a go-around. He described the second approach as a little fast and long. He was unable to stop by the end of the runway, and the airplane went off the departure end and into a pond. During the occurrence, the nose landing gear was bent rearward, and the firewall was wrinkled. The pilot also reported that he was not aware that the grass was wet or that he had a tailwind of 2 to 3 mph during touchdown.
Factual narrative
On September 16, 1996, about 1800 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 182, N737MD, was substantially damaged during a landing at The Minuteman Airport, Stow, Massachusetts. The commercial pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the flight which had departed from Worcester, Massachusetts about 1745, and was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In the NTSB Accident report, the pilot stated:
"...Decided I would practice a short field landing on runway 30 (1600 [feet long]). The wind sock was hanging limp, but I discovered later that that I had bout 2-3 knots tail wind. Also I did not know the grass was wet. The first approach was high and I made a normal go-around. The second one (I thought) was OK, but I was a little bit high and fast. When I saw the landing wasn't going to work, it was too late to go around. I went into the pond at the end of the runway at about 10 mph."
The nose landing gear was bent rearward, and the firewall was wrinkled.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N737MD
- Reported as
- Cessna 182
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18261672
- Airframe hours
- 3,338
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Francis Harrington
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 28, 1995 · 169 hours before
- Departed
- ORH · Worcester, MA
- Airport
- 6B6 · Minute Man, runway 30, 1,600 × 50 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
- 59
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 400 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.