- Date
- August 12, 2007, 13:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- San Diego, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1031DCessna 195
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20070812017059A
- Case key
- 66422
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 inadequate compensation for a wind gust that ballooned the airplane during the landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the wind gust.
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
According to the pilot, the landing approach to runway 27R was normal. He asked the local controller for the winds and was told they were from 260 degrees at 7 knots with no reported wind gusts. He flared the airplane for a touchdown in "a three point landing attitude." As expected, he heard the stall warning horn go off, felt the tail wheel begin to touch the runway and was expecting the main gear wheels to touch when he "felt the airplane quickly surge up and then slam down." The pilot reported that "it felt like a gust of wind lifted the airplane at the last moment." The airplane "stalled" at an altitude of 8 to 10 feet above the runway and struck the ground "extremely hard."
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, the landing approach to runway 27R was normal. He asked the local controller for the winds and was told they were from 260 degrees at 7 knots with no reported wind gusts. He flared the airplane for a touchdown in "a three point landing attitude." As expected, he heard the stall warning horn go off, felt the tail wheel begin to touch the runway and was expecting the main gear wheels to touch when he "felt the airplane quickly surge up and then slam down." The pilot reported that "it felt like a gust of wind lifted the airplane at the last moment." The airplane "stalled" at an altitude of 8 to 10 feet above the runway and struck the ground "extremely hard."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1031D
- Reported as
- Cessna 195
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7643
- Engine
- Jacobs R755B2, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- ELY · Ely, NV
- Destination
- SEE · San Diego, CA
- Airport
- SEE · Gillespie Field, runway 27R, 5,341 × 100 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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 760 total · 85 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 7 knots
- 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.