Aviation Crash Map

Cessna 172M N73403

6 June 2008 · Byron, California, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 6 June 2008 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N73403, operated by Alex Al-Abed, was involved in an accident near Byron, California, United States. 2 people were 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.

The record

Date
at 18:30
Classification
Accident
Location
Byron, California, United States
Nearest airport
Byron Airport (KC83)
Coordinates
37.8233, -121.6222
Aircraft
Cessna 172M
Registration
N73403
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Alex Al-Abed
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Instructional
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
San Carlos → Unknown
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
LAX08CA165

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
2 0 0 0 2

Probable cause

The flight instructor's inadequate compensation for the wind conditions, and his inadequate supervision of the student pilot. Factors contributing to the accident were a sudden wind shift and wind gusts.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The certificated flight instructor (CFI) and a student were practicing landings. They made two successful landings, and were on approach for a third. Around this time, the recorded winds were from 250 degrees at 7 knots gusting to 18. When the airplane was 50 feet above ground level (agl), and over the runway numbers, the student reduced power to idle per the CFI's instructions. At that moment, the airplane encountered a sudden wind shift or gust, which abruptly caused the airplane to pitch down and bank to the right. The CFI added full power, and applied back pressure on the yoke, but was unable to keep the airplane from descending rapidly. The nose gear and right main landing gear violently struck the runway. The nose gear broke off, and the airplane bounced. The CFI regained control, and landed the airplane on both main landing gear while keeping the nose gear off the ground as long as possible. The nose settled on the broken nose gear strut, and the airplane stopped on the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

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All 12,209 records for this type

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All 170,864 records in United States