LAX98LA011 · Cessna 170A
Cessna 170A · Accident: loss of control on ground/water during landing
From Chico Regional Airport (CIC) to 201
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX98LA011
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Cessna 170A
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 170
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N9212A
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Chico Regional Airport (CIC), Chico, CATo 201
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Landing · landing roll
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control on ground/water
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Landing gear, tailwheel assembly › Other
- Landing gear, tailwheel assembly › Vibration
- Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, adjustment, improper
- Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, installation, improper
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot reported that the approach, landing flare, and touchdown were normal. He further stated that during the initial ground roll, a very strong tail wheel vibration began, which 'shook the plane and overrode my rudder controls.' The pilot was unable to regain control, and the aircraft veered to the left, then ground looped in a very tight circle. Written statements submitted by the passengers were consistent with the pilot's report. An FAA airworthiness inspector examined the runway and aircraft. He reported that tail wheel scrub marks were present on the runway pavement in a high frequency wave pattern which led to the point of the ground loop. Examination of the aircraft disclosed about 1/8-inch play in the tail wheel bearings. The inspector also reported that the tail wheel was improperly shimmed. Review of the maintenance records disclosed that the tail wheel was replaced 12 days before the accident. Work orders from the repair shop (that installed the unit) noted that the tail wheel assembly was supplied by the owner. The work order noted that the bearings were replaced by the shop at the time of installation.
Probable cause
loss of directional control due to a severe tail wheel vibration, which was induced by an improperly installed and adjusted tail wheel assembly.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX98LA011
- Event ID
- 20001208X09056
- Case number
- LAX98LA011
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: ad9d284ce1d716b22b85461681dd043cf845b378217c37d577d67affe60d10db; retrieved 2026-09-22T18:22:40.310Z.