Pilot Debrief

Cessna 172 near Mount Holly, NJ — 2019-03-09

Final reportERA19LA194
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Date
2019-03-09
Location
Mount Holly, NJ, USA
Airport
VAY
Aircraft
Cessna 172
Registration
N7367G
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

Failure of the pilot's seat back due to a sheared bolt during the landing roll, which resulted in a loss of directional control and runway excursion.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that his seat back collapsed during the landing roll and he lost sight of the runway. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway and impacted the segmented circle markers surrounding the windsock, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot's seat back was found disconnected on the left side of the seat base assembly attach point. The bolt head that attached the seat back to the seat base had sheared off from the seat back assembly. The bolt was removed and later misplaced, and was not available for further examination; therefore, its failure mode could not be determined.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have checked seat integrity before flight to prevent failure during landing.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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