Cessna 170A N1332D

Summary

On 27 October 2012 at about 19:15 local time, a Cessna 170A registered N1332D was involved in an accident near Calexico, 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.

Date

27 October 2012 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Calexico, California, United States

Nearest airport

Calexico (cxl)

Coordinates

32.6675, -115.5175

Aircraft

Cessna 170A

Registration

N1332D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rancho Grande → Calexico

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13CA024

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during an attempted go-around, which resulted in a runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot/co-owner of the tailwheel-equipped airplane overflew the non-towered, paved airport to determine the wind conditions, which he determined to be from the northwest about 6 to 8 knots. He then flew a traffic pattern for landing on runway 26. During the landing flare the airplane began to drift left of the runway centerline, and at touchdown the tail of the airplane swerved to the left. The pilot unsuccessfully attempted to correct the airplane's path then initiated a go-around. He reported that after adding full power for the go-around, the airplane was headed to the right, at an angle that he estimated to be about 45 degrees from the runway alignment. Before the airplane could become airborne, it exited the right side of the runway and struck a low earthen berm. The airplane came to rest upright, with the right main landing gear fractured and separated from the fuselage. Additional damage included a bent propeller, a crushed nose cowl, crush damage to the lower fuselage, and bending and crush damage to both wings. There were no recorded meteorological data for the accident airport, but review of meteorological data from an airport about 10 miles north indicated conditions similar to those reported by the pilot. The pilot reported approximately 2,000 hours of a total flight experience, including about 30 hours in the accident airplane make and model in the past 30 days. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he was uncertain why he lost directional control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.