Cessna 172L N9816G

Summary

On 31 May 2013 at about 14:00 local time, a Cessna 172L registered N9816G, operated by Harry & Nancy Ricker, was involved in an accident near Millinocket, Maine, 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

31 May 2013 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Millinocket, Maine, United States

Nearest airport

Millinocket Municipal Airport (MLT)

Coordinates

45.6478, -68.6856

Aircraft

Cessna 172L

Registration

N9816G

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Harry & Nancy Ricker

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Greenville → Millinocket

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13CA266

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the student pilot, he was on a solo cross country flight. While arriving at the destination airport he decided the wind was favoring runway 29. He positioned the airplane for landing. While on final approach, he experienced a left crosswind for only a short period of time and continued with the approach. On landing, the pilot flared “normally”, but encountered a wind gust from the left just before the landing gear touched down. The airplane began to weathervane to the left and the pilot applied power along with full right rudder and right aileron to counteract the turn; however, the right main landing gear touched down and the airplane traveled to the right side of the runway. The pilot “released the throttle” and, with the left wing and left main landing gear in the air, the airplane continued to the left side of the runway and subsequently the right main landing gear collapsed. The airplane eventually came to rest on the runway. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the right wing and firewall. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that could have precluded normal operation. At the time of the accident, the wind was reported as variable at 4 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.