- Date
- May 17, 2009, 12:40 local (19:40 UTC)
- Place
- Cottonwood, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4787VBoeing E75
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20090517013539A
- Case key
- 73904
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 the crosswinds during the landing roll.
Findings · 4
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 pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane stated that during the landing roll the airplane began to drift to the left. The pilot applied right rudder and right aileron, and the airplane then encountered a gust of wind from the right. The left wing then struck the runway surface and the airplane departed the runway to the right, coming to rest in soft soil. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower wing spar during the accident sequence. The pilot reported that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane stated that during the landing roll the airplane began to drift to the left. The pilot applied right rudder and right aileron, and the airplane then encountered a gust of wind from the right. The left wing then struck the runway surface and the airplane departed the runway to the right, coming to rest in soft soil. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower wing spar during the accident sequence. The pilot reported that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4787V
- Reported as
- Boeing E75
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 75-5814
- Airframe hours
- 3,360
- Engine
- Pratt and Whitney R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fredric W. Krueger
- Registered owner
- Golden Wings Advertising Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 28, 2008 · 35 hours before
- Departed
- BLH · Blythe, CA
- Destination
- P52 · Cottonwood, AZ
- Airport
- P52 · Cottonwood, runway 14, 4,250 × 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
- 72
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 26, 2007
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 18,867 total · 1,042 in this make and model · 18,400 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- SEZ, 14 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 17, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 577 KB in all.
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 N4787V · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.