BOULDER CITY, NV, USA
N6389D
Cessna 172
The student pilot inadvertently applied the right brake while trying to correct for a right crosswind on runway 27L. The airplane's wheel locked up and the airplane skidded off the left side of the runway. The pilot did not use the ailerons to help maintain directional control. The airplane nosed over in soft soil damaging the vertical stabilizer. The winds at the airport were reported by a local fixed-base operation to be 170 degrees at 5 knots.
On July 21, 1996, at 0910 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172, N6389D, nosed over after an on ground loss of control during landing on runway 27L at the Boulder City Municipal Airport, Boulder City, Nevada. The airplane was substantially damaged and the student pilot was not injured. The airplane was being operated as an instructional flight by Corporate Flight International, Las Vegas, Nevada. The flight originated in Las Vegas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The student pilot indicated he was doing touch-and-go landings at the Boulder City Airport. On his seventh landing, a gust of wind from the right blew the airplane to the left. The pilot applied right pedal to correct the drift and inadvertently applied the brake, locking the wheel. The airplane skidded off the left side of the runway, struck a runway light, and nosed over in soft soil damaging the vertical stabilizer. The closest official weather observation station is located 16 nautical miles northwest of the accident site in Las Vegas. At 0856 hours, a record surface observation was reporting in part, winds from 340 degrees at 3 knots. The winds at the airport after the accident were reported by a local fixed-base operation to be 170 degrees at 5 knots. Runway 27L is 4,800 feet long by 75 feet wide. The FAA Flight Training Handbook, Advisory Circular 61-21A concerning crosswind landings states, "Special attention must be given to maintaining directional control by use of rudder, or nose wheel steering, while keeping the upwind wing from rising by use of aileron."
a loss of directional control due to the student pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions and improper remedial action. Factors in the accident were crosswinds, inadvertent brake application, and failure to use the ailerons.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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