St. Johns Industrial Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St. Johns, Arizona 85936
Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was performing a wheel landing on runway 14 and the airplane ground looped, damaging the left landing gear and left wing tip. The landing was normal until the tail wheel touched down. The airplane veered to the right and came to a stop 180 degrees from the runway heading about 3 feet off the runway edge. Throughout much of the morning, the wind's direction was variable and less than 4 knots. A routine aviation weather report (METAR) at SJN indicated that about 6 minutes prior to the accident, winds were from a magnetic heading of 290 degrees at 5 knots. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for a crosswind condition that resulted in a loss of directional control and ground loop. The crosswind was a contributing factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/31/2003
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City St. Johns
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85936
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 343106N
Event Location Longitude 1092243W
Event Location Airport St. Johns Industrial Airpark
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SJN
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 5736
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 954 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SJN
Elevation of weather observation facility 5736
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.34
Density Altitude (feet) 8000
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) 14327
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 31 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1911
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SDL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2935A
NTSB Number LAX03CA249
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 180
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 30135
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 May 28 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 30
Airframe Hours 5024
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name William Decanio
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Phoenix
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85003
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 Phoenix
Operator State --
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 85003
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) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RTN
Departure City Raton
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SJN
Destination City St. Johns
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 22 2003 2:18PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 14
Runway Length 5322
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --