| Crash location | 42.652500°N, 83.416945°W |
| Nearest city | Waterford, MI
42.663087°N, 83.387994°W 1.6 miles away |
| Tail number | N918TA |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 13 Jul 2006 |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 172R |
| Additional details: | None |
On July 13, 2006, at 1106 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172R, N918TA, operated by Tradewinds Aviation Inc. as an instructional airplane, impacted terrain during landing on runway 27R (5,000 feet by 100 feet, asphalt/porous friction courses) at Oakland County International Airport (PTK), Waterford, Michigan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 student solo instructional flight was not operating on a flight plan. The student pilot was uninjured. The local flight originated from PTK about 1030.
The student pilot stated that he arrived at Tradewinds Aviation Inc. for flight training at 0830. The student pilot and his certified flight instructor (CFI) departed from runway 27L, remained in the airport traffic pattern, and performed 5 landings. The CFI then exited the airplane, and the student pilot departed and performed two solo take off and landings from runway 27L. The student pilot then departed from runway 27R and was instructed by air traffic control to land on runway 27R. The student pilot stated that he performed a go-around since he "felt a slight crosswind" and "could not get the airplane on centerline." He then entered the traffic pattern for runway 27R for another landing attempt. He stated that on final, the descent was "fine" and the airspeed was "good." The student pilot stated that as he began to level off, he held left aileron into the wind. The student pilot stated that the nose yawed to the left when he reduced power and "felt" ground effect. He stated that during landing, the airplane was "somewhat" crabbed and began to turn left. He stated that he tried to correct by applying the left rudder pedal, but the airplane went into the grass and flipped.
The PTK Automated Surface Observing System recorded winds for the following times:
0853: 000 at 0 knots
0953: 170 degrees at 7 knots
1111: variable at 4 knots
1153: 170 degrees at 8 knots
The directional control not obtained/maintained, the inadequate compensation for wind conditions, and the go-around not performed during landing by the pilot. An additional cause was the lack of experience by the pilot. A contributing factor was the crosswind.