- Date
- September 28, 1997, 13:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kutztown, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5338ECessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 4, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970928039669A
- Case key
- 39438
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 student pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft, which resulted in an inadvertent ground swerve. Factors relating to the accident were: the student's pilot's selection of the wrong runway, the resultant tailwind, and the encounter with a cornfield beside the runway.
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 student pilot radioed his intention to land on runway 35 over the UNICOM frequency, and was advised by another pilot that runway 10 was in use. The student then landed on runway 28. During the landing roll, the airplane veered right, departed the right side of the runway, and traveled into a cornfield. The student reported he had 84 hours of total flight experience, all in make and model, of which 20.5 hours were solo time. At an airport about 11 miles southwest of the accident site, the wind was resorted to be from 100 degrees at 10 knots.
Factual narrative
On September 28, 1997, about 1330 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172, N5338E, was substantially damage while landing at the Kutztown Airport (N31), Kutztown, Pennsylvania. The student pilot (SP) was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the solo flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In a written statement, the SP said he departed Decks Airport (9D4), Myerstown, Pennsylvania. After practicing maneuvers in the area, he performed and five short field landings at 9D4, and then flew to N31. He further stated:
"...I radioed my intentions to land on runway 35 over the unicom. I was advised by a pilot that runway 10 was being used. I then went into, what I thought was my pattern for a runway 10 landing, and some how became disoriented and actually landed on [runway] 28. Upon landing, I wasn't able to stop in time, and left the runway, and went into a corn fied."
According to a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector, the SP stated to him that during the landing flare the airplane floated and touched down mid-field, on the 2,260 foot runway. The airplane then veered right, departed the right side of the runway, and traveled into a cornfield, where it entered a ditch.
In a telephone interview, the SP reported he had 84 hours of total flight experience, all in make and model, of which 20.5 hours were solo flight. He also stated, the majority of his solo flight time was accumulated on several cross country flights.
Winds reported at an airport about 11 miles southwest of the accident site, at 1254, were from 100 degrees at 10 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5338E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17271838
- Airframe hours
- 7,275
- Engine
- Lycoming 172N, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Reading Flite Academy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 13, 1997 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- 9D4 · Myerstown, PA
- Destination
- N31 · PA
- Airport
- N31 · Kutztown, runway 28, 2,260 × 150 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
- 46
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 85 total · 84 in this make and model · 21 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RDG, 11 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.