Montgomery County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Conroe, Texas 77303
Wednesday, May 14, 2003 10:15 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot was attempting the third landing to runway 19 on his first supervised solo flight. The pilot said, " During the landing flare approximately 5-6 feet off the runway my right wing jerked severely to the left." He said, " I lost control for a couple of seconds before I was able to level the wings. The wind shear tossed the plane 40-50 degrees to the left..." Subsequently, the airplane's nose gear touched down and collapsed, and the airplane came to rest upright on the side of the runway. The pilot reported at the time of the accident, the wind was from 190 degrees at 10 knots. Approximately the time of the accident, the airport weather facility reported the wind from 190 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 17 knots. The pilot had reported 17 hours of total flight time, all in make and model.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the student pilot's inadequate compensation for wind. A contributing factor was the gusting wind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/14/2003
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1015
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Conroe
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77303
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 302106N
Event Location Longitude 0952452W
Event Location Airport Montgomery County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CXO
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 245
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1038 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID CXO
Elevation of weather observation facility 245
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3900
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2100
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 17
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.89
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) 14013
NTSB Notification Source Houston FSDO
NTSB Notification Date May 28 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1600
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Houston, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1470X
NTSB Number FTW03LA161
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-7525307
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
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 Nov 1 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 95
Airframe Hours 3180
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Charles A. Ballard
Aircraft Owner Street Address 13895 FM 1097
Aircraft Owner City Willis
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77378
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CXO
Departure City Conroe
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
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 Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 7 2003 6:08PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19
Runway Length 3974
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --