- Date
- July 3, 2006, 10:03 local (16:03 UTC)
- Place
- Great Falls, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6857DCessna 195
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 31, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20060703013659A
- Case key
- 64060
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 loss of aircraft control during the takeoff roll, and the subsequent inadvertent ground loop.
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 said that as he taxied onto the runway, the wind was variable "seeming to come from all quadrants." He applied power slowly as he lined up on the center line; he had about 30 percent power on when the airplane started veering to the right. The pilot said that full left rudder and tapping the left brake did not change the course. As the airplane approached the edge of the runway, the left main landing gear folded under the fuselage and the aircraft settled onto the runway. The left main landing gear damaged the bottom of the fuselage, the engine mount was damaged, and the outboard four feet of the left wing was bent up.
Factual narrative
On July 3, 2006, at 1003 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 195, N6857D, was substantially damaged during a ground loop event while attempting to depart from Great Falls International Airport, Great Falls, Montana. The airline transport pilot and his passenger were not injured. The pilot/owner was operating the flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight which was originating at the time. The pilot had filed a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan.
The pilot said that as he taxied onto the runway, the wind was variable "seeming to come from all quadrants." He applied power slowly as he lined up on the center line; he had about 30 percent power on when the airplane started veering to the right. The pilot said that full left rudder and tapping the left brake did not change the course. As the airplane approached the edge of the runway, the left main landing gear folded under the fuselage and the aircraft settled onto the runway. The left main landing gear damaged the bottom of the fuselage, the engine mount was damaged, and the outboard four feet of the left wing was bent up.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6857D
- Reported as
- Cessna 195
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7848
- Engine
- Jacobs 755-A2, 300 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gary R. Hanson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 2005 · 19 hours before
- Departed
- GTF · Great Falls, MT
- Destination
- YQL · Lethbridge
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- GTF · Great Falls International Arpt, runway 34, 6,357 × 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
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 1, 2005
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 26,000 total · 185 in this make and model · 19,000 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.21 inHg
- Observed at
- GTF
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.