NTSB Factual Report

On March 15, 2001, at 1149 central standard time, a Cessna 210D airplane, N210HS, sustained substantial damage following a loss of control during the landing/flare touchdown at the Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport, Lawton, Oklahoma. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot and the pilot rated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight. An instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed and activated for the cross-country flight, which departed Alice, Texas, at 0900.

On the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2), the pilot reported that he received a weather briefing from San Angelo Flight Service Station prior to the departure from Alice, Texas. En route the flight experienced headwinds at 20-25 knots, and the pilot obtained an update on the winds by contacting flight watch. The pilot continued the flight to Lawton and was informed by the tower controller that the winds were from 310 degrees at 25 knots at the airport. The pilot reported that during the landing flare/touchdown on runway 35, the controller stated "the wind was changing rapidly and was now from 270." The pilot reported that "at touchdown the crosswind overcame my ability to keep the aircraft straight, and subsequently [the airplane] ran off the runway."

The pilot rated passenger reported the en route headwinds were at 30-35 knots with occasional light to moderate turbulence. The Lawton tower controller cleared the aircraft to land, number two, behind another aircraft that reported a loss of 10 knots airspeed at touchdown. Further, the pilot rated passenger stated that the tower reported a "wind shift from 25 knots at 310, to 45 knots at 270." During the landing flare/touchdown, "the left wing dipped ... the wind caught the airplane," and it was lifted back into the air to approximately 8-10 feet agl. The pilot "got the airplane back down, the wind again caught the left wing," and subsequently the propeller struck the runway. The pilot "forced the aircraft to veer with the wind, to the right off the runway in order to prevent the airplane from turning upside down." The airplane came to rest in the grass between the runway and a taxiway.

The FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the outboard 5 feet of the left wing was bent upward approximately 1.5 feet.

At 1253, the weather observation facility at the airport reported the wind from 300 degrees at 23 knots with gusts to 31 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause

the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the landing flare/touchdown. A contributing factor was the crosswind.