Skip to content

LAX02LA168

2002-05-19 · SHOW LOW, Arizona, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SOW

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing resulted in a loss of aircraft control. A factor was a sudden wind shift on final approach.

Factual narrative

On May 19, 2002, about 0915 mountain standard time, a Cessna 170B, N4338B, made a hard landing at Show Low, Arizona. The owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona, about 0800. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot stated that about 20 feet above the ground on final approach, the wind shifted from a headwind to a direct crosswind. The airplane dropped and bounced. The pilot tried to recover with full power, but he said the stalled wing fell and hit the ground. The airplane cartwheeled and sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot made a hard landing when, about 20 feet above the ground on final approach, the wind shifted from a headwind to a direct crosswind. The airplane dropped and bounced. The pilot tried to recover with full power, but the stalled wing fell and hit the ground. The airplane cartwheeled and sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2002_LAX02LA168.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

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