Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Columbus Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Columbus, Nebraska 68601
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 15:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane nosed over during an aborted takeoff on runway 14. The student pilot reported he was planning on making a touch and go landing, but he had a difficult time controlling the airplane because of the crosswind, so he elected to make a full stop landing. During the subsequent takeoff, the pilot reported, the airplane was pulling to the left so he aborted the takeoff at an airspeed of 45 knots. The airplane departed the left side of the runway approximately 2,600 feet from the threshold at the approach end of runway 14. It traveled about 320 feet through a grass area then an additional 100 feet through a wheat field. Tire marks indicate that once the airplane contacted the wheat field, it began to slide to the right. The right wing contacted the terrain and the airplane flipped over coming to rest approximately 480 feet from the runway. The airplane came to rest inverted on a heading of 360 degrees. Inspection of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical failure/malfunction which would have resulted in the loss of directional control. The winds reported at OLU at 1455 were from 70 degrees at 13 knots. According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the student pilot reported having 15 hours of flight time on the application for this third class airmen medical certificate which was dated September 5, 2003.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions and his failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during an aborted takeoff. Factors associated with the accident were the crosswind condition, the delayed aborted takeoff, and the student's lack of experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/15/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Columbus |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68601 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 412653N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0972034W |
| Event Location Airport | Columbus Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OLU |
| 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 | 1444 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OLU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1444 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1603 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16034 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lincoln, NE FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5204F |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA012 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17253195 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | United States Air Force |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Building 307, Hangar 4 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Offutt AFB |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68113 |
| 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 | OFF |
| Departure City | Offutt AFB |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | OLU |
| Destination City | Columbus |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 23 2004 8:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14 |
| Runway Length | 6800 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |