Cessna 120 N76203

Summary

On 14 January 2006 at about 19:00 local time, a Cessna 120 registered N76203 was involved in an accident near Hibbing, Minnesota, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 January 2006 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Hibbing, Minnesota, United States

Coordinates

47.3867, -92.8392

Aircraft

Cessna 120

Registration

N76203

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ely → Hibbing

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI06CA066

Nobody was injured.

The pilot used a rough frozen lake for takeoff which resulted in the overload failure of the landing ski. A factor was the rough frozen lake.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The ski equipped airplane nosed over while landing on a frozen lake. The pilot reported that when he departed another seaplane base, the surface was very rough due to frozen slush created by snow mobiles. He reported that when he touched down on the frozen lake, he heard a "loud grinding" noise and the airplane slowed down rapidly. The pilot stated that the grinding noise stopped then started again only much louder. He reported that the nose of the airplane dropped and the propeller contacted the ice. The pilot reported that the airplane then dropped to the right and flipped over onto its back. The pilot reported that the ground track from the left ski was "rounded" at initial touchdown followed by a space then a much narrower and deeper track. He reported that the four quarter-inch bolts sheared off between the axle and the gear leg on the left ski.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.