- Date
- June 21, 2012, 16:20 local (23:20 UTC)
- Place
- Concord, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1640DCessna 170B
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Dragged wing/rotor/float/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Adminstration FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120621011599A
- Case key
- 84054
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 control of the airplane while landing in gusting crosswind conditions.
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 was performing a landing in gusting crosswind conditions in the tailwheel-equipped airplane. During the landing flare, a wind gust lifted the airplane’s right wing. The pilot applied corrective control input and then landed. After he parked the airplane, the pilot realized that the airplane’s left wing had contacted the runway during the landing flare, causing substantial damage to the aileron and outboard wing skins. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot was performing a landing during gusting crosswind conditions in the tailwheel-equipped airplane. During the landing flare, a wind gust lifted the right wing, and the pilot applied corrective control input. The left wing subsequently struck the runway, causing substantial damage to the aileron and outboard wing skins. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1640D
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20282
- Airframe hours
- 2,466
- Engine
- Cont Motor C145 SERIES, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 6, 2011
- Departed
- E45 · Groveland, CA
- Destination
- CCR · Concord, CA
- Airport
- CCR · Buchanan Field Airport, runway 19L, 2,770 × 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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 25, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,000 total · 408 in this make and model · 900 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 16 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- KCCR
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 16, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.5 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.