- Date
- April 8, 2011, 16:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Othello, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N423ESCessna 172R
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 20, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110408006069A
- Case key
- 78822
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 maintain directional 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
Prior to the flight, the pilot obtained a weather briefing. He preflighted the airplane and flew to a nearby airport to practice landings. He said while on final approach, he noticed the windsock start to whip, and he used ailerons to stop the airplane's southerly drift. He said the airplane bounced around as he approached touchdown. Immediately after touchdown, the airplane veered left (south) off the asphalt and into a freshly plowed field. The airplane's nose wheel dug into the soft soil and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The airplane's right wing lift strut was bent, both wings were wrinkled, the aft empennage was bent and wrinkled on the bottom, and the vertical stabilizer was bent.
Factual narrative
The pilot said that he had obtained a weather briefing before coming to the airport. After completing a preflight inspection of the airplane, he flew to a nearby airport to practice landings. He reported flying over the airfield to observe the windsock, which indicated a wind he estimated to be out of the north about 5 knots. The pilot flew a right traffic pattern to runway 25. While on final approach, he noticed the windsock start to "whip," and he used ailerons to stop the airplane's southerly drift. He said the airplane started bouncing around as he approached touchdown. Immediately after touchdown, the airplane veered left (south) off the asphalt and into a freshly plowed field. The airplane's nose wheel dug into the soft soil and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The airplane's right wing lift strut was bent, both wings were wrinkled, the aft empennage was bent and wrinkled on the bottom, and the vertical stabilizer was bent. At 1705, the reported winds at Hanford, Washington, bearing 225 degrees at 18 nautical miles from the accident site, were from 340 degrees at 9 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N423ES
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17280258
- Airframe hours
- 809
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Kennewick Aircraft Services Inc.
- Registered owner
- Kennewick Aircraft Services Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 21, 2011
- Departed
- RLD · Richland, WA
- Destination
- S70 · Othello, WA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- S70 · Othello Municipal Airport, runway 25, 3,564 × 45 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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 25, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 17 in this make and model · 5 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.82 inHg
- Observed at
- RLD, 30 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 19, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 456 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.