Whiteside City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rock Falls, Illinois 61071
Friday, March 16, 1990 14:30 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

STUDENT PILOT ON SECOND SOLO CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT WAS ATTEMPTING TO LAND ON RUNWAY 25 AT INTENDED DESTINATION. WINDS WERE 240 DEGREES AT 15 KNOTS GUSTING TO 30 KNOTS. WHEN THE STUDENT WAS APPROXIMATELY 5 FEET ABOVE RUNWAY, STRONG GUST CAUGHT AIRCRAFT AND FLIPPED IT ON ITS BACK IN THE INFIELD. AIRCRAFT SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED, STUDENT UNINJURED.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

AN ENCOUNTER WITH WIND CONDITIONS WHICH EXCEEDED THE CAPABILITY OF THE STUDENT PILOT.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/16/1990
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City ROCK FALLS
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 61071
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport WHITESIDE CITY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SQI
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 647
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1415 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 40
Weather Observation Facility ID RFD
Elevation of weather observation facility 736
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 35
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 24
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 38
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) 642
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Mar 16 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1742
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 41646
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 4:49PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N737GN
NTSB Number CHI90LA097
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model C172N
Aircraft Series Identifier C172N
Aircraft Serial Number 17269408
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 Mar 9 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2
Airframe Hours 1823
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LEWIS UNIVERSITY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 16116 AIRPORT RD.
Aircraft Owner City ROMEOVILLE
Aircraft Owner State IL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 60441
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code LOT
Departure City ROMEOVILLE
Departure State IL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SQI
Destination City ROCK FALLS
Destination State IL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 6500
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --