Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Spanish Fork Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Spanish Fork, Utah 84660
Monday, March 21, 2011 13:22 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot reported that, after he completed his preflight inspection, he delayed his departure because of reported high wind conditions at his planned destination airport located 5 nautical miles (nm) away. The nearest weather reporting facility was located at that airport, and the wind reported about 32 minutes before the accident was southwesterly at 16 knots, gusting to 26 knots. Shortly thereafter, the pilot noted that the wind was down the runway so he decided to depart for local takeoff-and-landing practice. During his first landing, the airplane bounced and the pilot said that he encountered a “microburst or intense wind.” The pilot lost control of the airplane and it departed the left side of the runway. The airplane cartwheeled several times and impacted an airport perimeter fence. About 28 minutes after the accident, the wind at the airport 5 nm away increased to 22 knots, gusting to 40 knots. Two witnesses reported a high, gusting wind at the accident airport and estimated it to be 40 to 50 knots from the southwest at the time of the accident. The pilot was landing to the southeast, and it is likely that the pilot encountered a gusting crosswind. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's inadequate compensation for the gusting wind, which resulted in a loss of airplane control during landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to depart with a high gusting wind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/21/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1322 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Spanish Fork |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84660 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400840N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1113956W |
| Event Location Airport | Spanish Fork |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | U77 |
| 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 | 4529 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1350 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PVU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4497 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 22 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 40 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.69 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29612 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 9 2012 1:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N739DG |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA175 |
| 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 | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17270456 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Jan 26 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3197 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Amehigh LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Springville |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84663 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Amehigh LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Springville |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84663 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | U77 |
| Departure City | Spanish Fork |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | U77 |
| Destination City | Spanish Fork |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 9 2012 1:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 5700 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |