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WPR24LA022

2023-10-18 · Bandera, Washington, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 4W0

Current FAA registration · N734LJ

Make / Model
CESSNA 172N
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A9DAEA

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s decision to land at a closed water-soaked grass runway, which resulted in a runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during landing on the 2,344 ft grass runway, the airplane floated and touched down near mid-field. The pilot applied the brakes and retracted the flaps, but the turf runway was waterlogged, and the airplane exited the end of the runway and nosed over. According to the airport’s chart supplement, the airport was closed from October 1, 2023, to June 1, 2023. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing spar. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with 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.

  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-Wet surface-Effect on equipment
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Performance calculations-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Surface speed/braking-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_WPR24LA022.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 (runway excursion). All research papers