Cessna 170B N3119A

Summary

On 23 May 2013 at about 01:45 local time, a Cessna 170B registered N3119A, operated by David Needham, was involved in an accident near Danville, Indiana, 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

23 May 2013 at 01:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Danville, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Hendricks County Airport (2R2)

Coordinates

39.7467, -86.4753

Aircraft

Cessna 170B

Registration

N3119A

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

David Needham

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Danville → Danville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

CEN13CA306

Nobody was injured.

The pilot not maintaining directional control of the airplane during the landing roll resulting in the ground loop.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that the purpose of the flight was to accumulate two hours solo flight time in reference to insurance requirements. He stated that during his second landing, while transitioning into the flare, he saw the airspeed was 65 mph; he reduced engine power to idle and banked with a “slight” right wing low into the wind. The tail wheel airplane touched down with right main and then left main. The pilot reported that he “got really light on my wheels” and swerved to the right. He swerved to left and the swerves were subsequently getting worse. He said that he could not get the aircraft straightened out. The left wheel skidded on runway and the airplane came to rest on the pavement with the pilot’s door open. The pilot’s door would not close and the pilot taxied the airplane back to the hanger. During a post flight inspection, the pilot discovered white dust on the left main tire. He subsequently found his tire marks just north of the midfield turn off and followed the marks to their end where he found three pieces of the left wheel half. The pilot reported that there were no airplane mechanical malfunctions in reference to the flight. A subsequent examination of the airplane revealed there was substantial damage to the fuselage and landing gear box.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.