Pilot Attempted To Maintain Directional Control With Rudder And Brake Applications Without Success

Location: Brooksville, FL Accident Number: ERA23LA091
Date & Time: December 16, 2022, 15:15 Local Registration: N5405V
Aircraft: Cessna R172K Injuries: 1 Minor
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal

On December 16, 2022, at 1515 eastern standard time, a Cessna R172K, N5405V, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport (BKV), Brooksville, Florida. The private pilot sustained a minor injury.  The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. Preliminary information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed the pilot was returning from Orlando International Airport (ORL), Orlando, Florida, where he had deplaned a friend. The pilot conducted a “normal” landing to runway 09 at BKV when the airplane started to its left during the landing roll. The pilot attempted to maintain directional control with rudder and brake applications without success.

The airplane did not respond to the pilot’s remedial actions, continued off the left side of the runway, struck a ditch, nosed over, and came to rest inverted with substantial damage to the wings and fuselage.

Weather reported at BKV at the time of the accident included winds from 020° at 4 knots, scattered clouds at 11,000 ft above ground level (agl), and 10 statute miles visibility. The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued September 12, 2022, and he declared 1,200 total hours of flight experience on that date. According to FAA and maintenance records, the airplane was manufactured in 1977 and was powered by a Continental IO-360-K 195-horsepower engine. The airplane’s most recent annual inspection was completed on May 5, 2022, at 2,368 total aircraft hours.

Examination of the wreckage by FAA inspectors revealed the nose wheel was separated and the nose gear fork assembly was fractured. Six pieces of the fractured assembly were harvested from the airplane and from along the wreckage path and forwarded  to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, DC for examination.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov