Cessna 172 N5407R

Summary

On 22 April 1997 at about 03:35 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N5407R was involved in an accident near Ninilchik, Alaska, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 April 1997 at 03:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Ninilchik, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Ninilchik (NIN)

Coordinates

60.0710, -151.4193

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N5407R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC97LA061

Nobody was injured.

failure of the pilot to maintain altitude/clearance from a closed runway, while making a low pass, which resulted in an inadvertent touchdown.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot planned to land on a dirt runway at the end of a cross-country flight. When he arrived over the airport, the pilot noticed a large white 'X' (marking) at each end of the runway. He performed a low pass over the runway, and noted the surface contained several ruts. The pilot indicated that during the low pass, a gust of wind pushed the airplane to the left. He corrected the drift toward the right, and the airplane descended. The main landing gear inadvertently touched down on the soft surface of the runway at an estimated airspeed of 60 MPH. The airplane immediately nosed over. The airport facility directory contained a caution that the runway was extremely soft, when wet, and unusable during spring breakup. Safety areas at both runway ends were soft and rutted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.