Mcminnville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mcminnville, Oregon 97128
Saturday, February 8, 2003 13:00 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot, who was landing in gusty crosswinds, had already made one landing and was on the landing roll of his second when he encountered crosswinds that lifted the aircraft's left wing in the air. At the same time as the wing was being lifted, the aircraft started drifting toward the right side of the runway. As the pilot attempted to get the wing down using aileron deflection, and tried to get the aircraft heading straight down the runway, it felt to him like the aircraft was going to cartwheel. He therefore decided to let the aircraft go off the side of the runway in the direction it was headed. After departing the runway, the aircraft encountered soft terrain, whereupon the nose gear dug in and the aircraft nosed over. According to the pilot, except for a minor nose wheel shimmy, there did not seem to be any problems with the aircraft's controls.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions and his failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll. Factors include gusty crosswinds and soft terrain in the area where the aircraft departed the side of the runway.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/8/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City McMinnville
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97128
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 451144N
Event Location Longitude 1230816W
Event Location Airport McMinnville Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MMV
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 163
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.19
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13273
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Feb 8 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1535
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 23 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Portland FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N734KU
NTSB Number SEA03LA036
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17268921
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 Jan 17 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 45
Airframe Hours 3763
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Twin Oaks Airpark, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 12405 SW River Road
Aircraft Owner City Hillsboro
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97123
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 MMV
Departure City McMinnville
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1255
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code MMV
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 17 2003 3:20PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 04
Runway Length 5420
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --