- Date
- October 18, 2023, 13:39 local (20:39 UTC)
- Place
- Bandera, WA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N734LJCessna 172N
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Nose over/nose down
- 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
- 20231018022409A
- Case key
- 193299
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 decision to land at a closed water-soaked grass runway, which resulted in a runway excursion.
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 landing on the 2,344 ft grass runway, the airplane floated and touched down near mid-field. The pilot applied the brakes and retracted the flaps, but the turf runway was waterlogged, and the airplane exited the end of the runway and nosed over. According to the airport’s chart supplement, the airport was closed from October 1, 2023, to June 1, 2023. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing spar. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N734LJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17268935
- Built
- 1977
- Airframe hours
- 4,549.9
- Engine
- Lycoming O-260-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James Mitchell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 12, 2023 · 60.4 hours before
- Departed
- ESW · Easton, WA
- Destination
- 4W0 · Bandera, WA
- Airport
- 4W0 · Bandera State, runway 08/26, 2,344 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 19
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1
- Last flight review
- June 16, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 134.1 total · 78 in this make and model · 81.4 as pilot in command · 47 in the last 90 days · 23.5 in the last 30 days · 1.3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- KSMP, 11 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KSMP 182056Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 18/08 A3015 RMK AO2 SLP197 T01780083 58008=
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 6, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.4 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 N734LJ · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.