Laurel Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Laurel, Montana 59044
Thursday, October 19, 1995 10:20 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During a touch-and-go landing, the student pilot made an evasive maneuver on final approach to avoid a collision with a flock of geese. After a left turn toward a row of hangars, he determined that he would not be able to clear the hangars, so he reduced power and landed. During the rollout, the nose landing gear contacted a concrete block in a burrow pit next to the taxiway, and the airplane nosed over.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the student pilot's improper planning/decision, which resulted in inadequate altitude/clearance from hangar buildings and a subsequent emergency landing, while attempting to evade a flock of geese. The flock of geese was a related factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/19/1995
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1020
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City LAUREL
Event State MONTANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 59044
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LAUREL MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 6S8
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 3515
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 956 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID BIL
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 7
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1984
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 19 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:40PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6477D
NTSB Number SEA96LA009
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172N
Aircraft Series Identifier 172N
Aircraft Serial Number 17272825
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PLANE FOLKS FLYING CLUB
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2033 AVENUE D
Aircraft Owner City BILLINGS
Aircraft Owner State MT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 59102
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BIL
Departure City BILLINGS
Departure State MT
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 6S8
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22
Runway Length 3775
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --