- Date
- September 14, 2013, 15:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Meadow Creek, MT
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N4324NCessna 195A
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 4, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20130914018479A
- Case key
- 88048
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 during the takeoff roll on a rough turf runway.
Findings · 3
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 reported that during the takeoff roll on a rough turf runway the airplane bounced and swerved to the right. The pilot corrected for the swerve when the airplane bounced a second time and despite his inputs, the airplane departed the left side of the runway. The right wheel encountered a depression and collapsed; subsequently the right wing struck the ground and sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during the takeoff roll on a rough turf runway the airplane bounced and swerved to the right. The pilot corrected for the swerve when the airplane bounced a second time and despite his inputs, the airplane departed the left side of the runway. The right wheel encountered a depression and collapsed; subsequently the right wing struck the ground and sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4324N
- Reported as
- Cessna 195A (UNDESIGNAT)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7085
- Built
- 1948
- Airframe hours
- 5,139
- Engine
- Jacobs L4 /R755-7, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 19, 2013 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- 0S1 · Meadow Creek, MT
- Destination
- S27 · Kalispell, MT
- Airport
- 0S1 · Meadow Creek Usfs, runway 35, 2,830 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 42
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 16, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 455 total · 101 in this make and model · 387 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- GPI, 44 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 9, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.2 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.
Other investigations on N4324N · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.