Spiirit Of St Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chesterfield, Missouri 63017
Saturday, July 4, 1998 16:05 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane exited the runway after touchdown, traversed a wet grassy area and impacted a taxiway. The pilot said that he did not have his feet on the brakes, neither did he make any rudder input on touchdown. He said that he did not realize when the nosewheel contacted the runway. He said that after exiting the runway, his application of brakes and left rudder stopped the right turn, but did not return the airplane to the runway. The airplane continued across a taxiway where the nosewheel contacted a lip on the pavement and collapsed. Subsequent to the accident an examination of the airplane was conducted and no anomalies were found in the brakes or continuity of the flight controls.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's not obtaining and maintaining directional control. A factor was wet terrain (grass).

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/4/1998
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1605
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City CHESTERFIELD
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63017
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport SPIIRIT OF ST LOUIS
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SUS
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 463
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1611 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SUS
Elevation of weather observation facility 463
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
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) 1051
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 4 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1827
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2001 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2XC
NTSB Number CHI98LA237
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 172M
Aircraft Series Identifier 172M
Aircraft Serial Number 17266833
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 12 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 40
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name E. D. GRAHAM
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2205 VIEWROYAL DR.
Aircraft Owner City ST. LOUIS
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 63131
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code SUS
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1510
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2001 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26R
Runway Length 3800
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --