Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
West Houston Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Houston, Texas 77084
Monday, June 23, 2008 8:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said he made a "smooth wheel landing" on runway 33. Touchdown speed was 80 mph. After the tail wheel settled to the ground, the pilot applied brakes and the airplane started veering to the left. The pilot attempted corrective action, but the airplane started to ground loop. The pilot said side loads on the right main gear caused the wheel to break off. The gear strut dug into the ground and it, too, broke off. The leading edge of the left wing was crushed from the tip to the root, both elevators were bent, and the firewall was wrinkled. The weather was clear and the winds were calm.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control, causing the design stress limits of the airplane to be exceeded. Excessive sideloads incurred caused the right main landing gear wheel and strut to fail.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/23/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 815 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Houston |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77084 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 294905N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0954021W |
| Event Location Airport | West Houston |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IWS |
| 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 | 111 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HOU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 46 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KHOU 231353Z 32003KT 10SM FEW020 OVC250 28/2 |
| 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) | 24701 |
| NTSB Notification Source | HOU FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 23 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 26 2009 9:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Houston, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4426C |
| NTSB Number | DEN08LA112 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 195 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 16011 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3350 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 3115 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Stephen W. Allen |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fredericksburg |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78624 |
| 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 | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | T82 |
| Departure City | Fredericksburg |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 645 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | IWS |
| Destination City | Houston |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 29 2008 3:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | scoa |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 3953 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |