- Date
- May 12, 2005, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Missoula, MT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7866ZCessna 152TW
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Helena FSDO
- FAA report
- 20050512007079A
- Case key
- 61526
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 clearance from a taxiway identification sign as he attempted to turn off the runway onto the taxiway during the last part of the landing roll. Factors include a taxiway identification sign in the vicinity of the intersection of the runway and the taxiway.
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, who landed on Runway 25, was cleared by the tower to turn off the runway at Taxiway Echo 4. While attempting to make the right-hand turn onto the taxiway, the pilot inadvertently turned too soon, and the aircraft collided with the runway identification sign near the intersection of the runway and the taxiway. The force of the impact resulted in the right main gear leg attachment box being bent and distorted. According to the pilot, there was nothing wrong with the aircraft's directional control system or brakes.
Factual narrative
On May 12, 2005, approximately 1500 mountain daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Cessna 150TW, N7866Z, collided with a runway identification sign during the landing roll at Missoula International Airport, Missoula, Montana. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant of the aircraft, was not injured, but the aircraft, which is owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal pleasure flight, which departed St. Ignatius, Montana, about 15 minutes prior to the accident, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed. There was no report of an ELT activation.
According to the pilot, who landed on Runway 25, he was cleared by the tower to turn off the runway at Taxiway Echo 4. While attempting to make the right-hand turn onto the taxiway, the pilot inadvertently turned too soon, and the aircraft collided with the runway identification sign near the intersection of the runway and the taxiway. The force of the impact resulted in the right main gear leg attachment box being bent and distorted. According to the pilot, there was nothing wrong with the aircraft's directional control system or brakes.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7866Z
- Reported as
- Cessna 152TW
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 59966
- Airframe hours
- 4,139
- Engine
- Continental O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jim C. Younkin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 1, 2004 · 66 hours before
- Departed
- 52S · St. Ignatius, MT
- Destination
- KMSO · Missoula, MT
- Airport
- KMSO · Missoula International, runway 25, 4,612 × 75 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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 1, 2004
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 390 total · 148 in this make and model · 360 as pilot in command · 66 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
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 N7866Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.