- Date
- May 10, 2008, 17:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Big Timber, MT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8103ECessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080510835609A
- Case key
- 67981
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 an adequate airspeed during landing which resulted in a stall.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The student pilot had finished his flight lesson and was returning solo to his departure airport. He observed the windsock and noted that the wind was directly down the runway at approximately 15 to 20 knots. The pilot said that as he entered the flare, he was slow and the left wing stalled, then dropped, and, the left wing and main landing gear touched the runway. The student pilot applied power and the airplane ended up approximately 90 degrees to the runway and 8 feet above ground level, off of the runway surface. The left wing then collided with the windsock pole and sustained substantial damage. No mechanical anomalies were noted.
Factual narrative
The student pilot had finished his flight lesson and was returning solo to his departure airport. He observed the windsock and noted that the wind was directly down the runway and approximately 15 to 20 knots. The pilot said that as he entered the flare, he was slow and the left wing stalled, then dropped, and, the left wing and main landing gear touched the runway. The student pilot applied power and the airplane ended up approximately 90 degrees to the runway and 8 feet above ground level, off of the runway surface. The left wing then collided with the windsock pole and sustained substantial damage. No mechanical anomalies were noted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8103E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 36795
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental O-300-A, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ronald Barron
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MT48 · Livingston, MT
- Destination
- 6S0 · Big Timber, MT
- Airport
- 6S0 · Big Timber Airport, runway 24, 5,282 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 53
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 81 total · 81 in this make and model · 9 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- LVM, 20 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.