Warren County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Glens Falls, New York 12801
Saturday, August 16, 2003 14:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While on approach to the airport, the pilot encountered a thunderstorm cell, and elected to utilize runway 30, a 4,000-foot-long, 100-foot-wide, asphalt runway. The pilot said he approached at a faster airspeed in expectation of crosswinds or wind shear. Upon touchdown, the aircraft was picked up from the front left quarter by a wind gust and landed hard. The airplane sustained damage to the propeller, firewall, nose gear and lower portions of the fuselage. The pilot did not experience any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. A weather observation taken at the airport, about the time of the accident, included winds from 270 at 6 knots, visibility 3 miles with light rain and mist. The remarks section of the observation included lightning in the distance east, southwest, and west of the airport.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain control during the flare/touchdown, which resulted in a hard landing. Factors in this accident were wind gusts and the pilot's improper decision to land during thunderstorm activity.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/16/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Glens Falls
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 12801
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 432028N
Event Location Longitude 0733637W
Event Location Airport WARREN COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID GFL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1425 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID GFL
Elevation of weather observation facility 328
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) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.74
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14355
NTSB Notification Source Albany FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Aug 21 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 900
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 Albany

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9673B
NTSB Number NYC03CA179
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 172RG
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 172RG0960
Certified Max Gross Weight 2658
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 Feb 6 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 32
Airframe Hours 6240
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Michael R. Juliano
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Queensbury
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 No
Departure Airport Code GFL
Departure City GLENS FALLS
Departure State NY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1410
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code GFL
Destination City Glens Falls
Destination State NY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 17 2003 4:33PM
User who most recently changed record SCHL
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 30
Runway Length 4000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --