Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Petersburg/Clearwater Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Clearwater, Florida 33701
Monday, April 28, 2003 12:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that during the landing roll, approximately 100 to 200 feet down the runway, the nose suddenly dropped. He applied back-pressure to the yoke, began braking and intentionally steered towards the grass on the left side of the runway where the right main gear separated. He further stated that he might have used "too much left rudder." The passenger seated in the right front seat stated that during the rollout, the right wing tipped and saw the pilot was "very busy with the yoke." The airplane was going left towards the grass and started skidding sideways coming to a sudden stop. The FAA inspector that examined the wreckage stated the break in the right landing gear was consistent with a ductile break, a high stress fracture. The surface area of the break did not show any fatigue or markings associated with a fatigue fracture. The pilot's total time in make and model was 7.2 hour at the time of the accident. The Cessna 177RG Owners Manual states, "When landing in a strong crosswind, use the minimum flap setting required for the field length." The winds were 070 at 9 knots and the pilot landed on runway 17L with full flaps. A photo of the accident airplane after the accident show the lower section of right main landing gear missing, the nose gear bent towards the left, and the markings on the runway are consistent with the airplane skidding sideways in a left direction on the left side of the runway center line.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing roll resulting in the failure and separation of the right main landing gear, partial collapse of the nose landing gear, and substantial damage to the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/28/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1235 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Clearwater |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33701 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 275438N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0824114W |
| Event Location Airport | St. Petersburg/Clearwater Intl |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PIE |
| 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 | 11 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPIE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1400 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16391 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE Reg Com Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 28 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8015G |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA101 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 177-RG |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 177RG0015 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 12 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 3000 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CAMS Flight Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 14421 Airport Parkway |
| Aircraft Owner City | Clearwater |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33762 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | EYW |
| Departure City | KEY WEST |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1055 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PIE |
| Destination City | Clearwater |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 4 2004 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17L |
| Runway Length | 8800 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |