Aviation Accident Summaries

Aviation Accident Summary FTW01LA045

BRISTOW, OK, USA

Aircraft #1

N68472

Cessna 152

Analysis

The student pilot reported that a crosswind kept the airplane left of the runway's centerline. The airplane's left main landing gear struck a snow bank and the airplane veered off the runway. The pilot applied full power; however, the airplane nosed down, the left wing and propeller struck the ground, and the airplane returned to a level attitude before coming to rest.

Factual Information

On January 4, 2001, at 1500 central standard time, a Cessna 152, single-engine airplane, N68472, sustained substantial damage when the left main landing gear struck a snow bank during the landing flare/touchdown on runway 17 at the Jones Memorial Airport, Bristow, Oklahoma. The airplane was owned by Christiansen Aviation at Tulsa, Oklahoma, and operated by the Oklahoma State University, at Stillwater, Oklahoma, under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The student pilot, sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the instructional flight, and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan was filed. The cross-country flight departed Shawnee, Oklahoma, at 1345. The pilot reported that a "slight crosswind from approximately 180 degrees kept me left of course to touchdown." At touchdown, the airplane continued left until the "left main [landing gear] hit the snow bank." The airplane veered off the runway into the grass. The pilot applied full power for a soft field takeoff "but it didn't work." The airplane nosed down, the left wing and propeller struck the ground, and the airplane returned to a level attitude before coming to rest. The operator's personnel responding to the accident site, found the left wing bent and crumpled with structural damage to the main spar. The operator reported the wind from the south at 10 knots.

Probable Cause and Findings

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the crosswind conditions, which resulted in the airplane striking a snow bank during the landing flare/touchdown. A factor was the crosswind weather condition.

 

Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database

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