- Date
- May 26, 2011, 14:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sedona, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7792PPiper PA-24-250
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 22, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20110526010169A
- Case key
- 79236
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 control on the landing roll out. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to attempt a landing in crosswind conditions that exceeded the maximum demonstrated capability of the airplane.
Findings · 6
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 entering the traffic pattern with the intention to land on runway 21, the pilot contacted the pilot of another airplane that had just landed to inquire about the wind conditions. The pilot that previously landed reported the wind was “a little squirrelly but not bad.” The pilot elected to continue his entry into the traffic pattern and made an uneventful landing. During the landing roll, the airplane veered to the left and exited the runway colliding with a tree and substantially damaging the left wing. At the time of the accident, the airport was reporting the wind as variable from 140 degrees to 200 degrees at 13 knots, gusting 32 knots. According to the pilot operating handbook, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component of the airplane was 17 knots. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal flight.
Factual narrative
Prior to entering the traffic pattern with the intention to land, the pilot contacted the pilot of an airplane that had just landed to inquire about the wind conditions. The pilot that had landed reported the wind was “a little squirrelly but not bad.” The pilot elected to continue his entry into the traffic pattern and made an uneventful landing. During the landing roll, the airplane veered to the left and exited the runway colliding with a tree and substantially damaging the left wing. At the time of the accident, the airport was reporting the wind as variable from 140 degrees to 200 degrees at 13 knots, gusting 32 knots. According to the pilot operating handbook, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component of the airplane is 17 knots. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7792P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-3009
- Airframe hours
- 5,500
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540 SERIES, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Bertolina Arthur T Trustee
- Registered owner
- Bertolina Arthur T Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 15, 2011
- Departed
- KCCB · Upland, CA
- Destination
- KSEZ · Sedona, AZ
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- KSEZ · Sedona Airport, runway 21, 5,132 × 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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 18, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,954 total · 1,388 in this make and model · 1,954 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 13 knots, gusting 32
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- KSEZ
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 23, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 535 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.