Skip to content

ERA21LA074

2020-12-11 · Dexter, Maine, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 1B0

Current FAA registration · N19801

Make / Model
CESSNA 172M
Year of manufacture
1972 · 48 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19720725
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A18855

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s loss of directional control while landing, which resulted in an encounter with snow and subsequent nose over.

Factual narrative

The pilot was practicing take-offs and landings and described that during the landing flare, a gust of wind pushed the airplane toward the left side of the runway. The airplane’s left main wheel then encountered snow on the side of the runway that pulled the airplane to the left. When the airplane’s nose wheel hit the snow, the airplane nosed over. The vertical stabilizer and both wings of the airplane were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Snow/ice-Effect on operation
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ERA21LA074.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing). All research papers