- Date
- February 12, 2011, 10:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Groveland, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N17AJBal-Air Inc/Wayne John K Christen Eagle
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 13, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20110212002459A
- Case key
- 78362
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 compensate for crosswind conditions and maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a runway excursion.
Findings · 2
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 stated that as the airplane settled on the runway, it passed several hangars and a hill, and the tail was pushed by a crosswind. The pilot tried to correct the movement but was unsuccessful. The airplane departed the runway at 35-40 mph, pivoted up on the nose, twisted to the right, and settled back down on its landing gear. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that it sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that the airplane and engine experienced no mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated on the NTSB Pilot Aircraft Accident Report that as the airplane settled on runway 27 it passed some hangars and a hill, and the tail was pushed by a crosswind. The pilot tried to correct the movement but was unsuccessful. The airplane departed the runway at 35-40 mph, pivoted up on the nose, twisted to the right, and settled back down on its landing gear. Substantial damage to the left wing tip of the top wing was identified. The pilot reported that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N17AJ
- Reported as
- Bal-Air Inc/Wayne John K Christen Eagle
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 001
- Airframe hours
- 805
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Miller Roger D Jr
- Registered owner
- Miller Roger D Jr
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · March 1, 2010
- Departed
- KOAR · Marina, CA
- Destination
- KE45 · Groveland, CA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- KE45 · Pine Mountain Lake, runway 27, 3,624 × 50 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
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- July 12, 2009
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 504 total · 287 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 14, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 MB 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.