- Date
- October 8, 2022, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Monument Valley, UT · airport environment
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1961CCessna 170B
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20221008016549A
- Case key
- 106124
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 loss of airplane control during the landing flare in gusting wind and subsequent loss of directional control 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
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during the flare for landing, the airplane encountered a wind gust and the airplane landed hard and bounced. The airplane veered to the left and subsequently ground looped off the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1961C
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 26106
- Built
- 1953
- Airframe hours
- 3,388
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 23, 2022
- Departed
- CNY · Moab, UT
- Destination
- UT25 · Monument Valley, UT
- Airport
- UT25 · Monument Valley, runway 16, 3,800 × 45 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, Onboard weather, Handheld GPS, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,532 total · 110 in this make and model · 2,432 as pilot in command · 95 in the last 90 days · 41 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.40 inHg
- Observed at
- KBDG, 48 nm away
- METAR
- KBDG 082015Z AUTO 15005KT 10SM 20/07 A3040 RMK AO1 T01970066
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 30, 2022, 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.