What aircraft was involved and where did it happen?

The accident on 1983-01-01 involved a Cessna 140, registration N89399, at Springbrook, WI.

Student Pilot Collides with Snowbank at Runway Threshold During Dual Instruction (N89399)

On January 1, 1983, a Cessna 140 (registration N89399) was involved in an aviation accident near Springbrook, WI. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to maintain visual reference with the runway environment, resulting in a collision with a snowbank, due to inadequate lighting and background snow obscuring the runway threshold. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.

A dual instructional flight ended in a collision with a snowbank at the runway threshold. The student pilot, seated on the right, struggled to distinguish the obstacle due to poor lighting and background snow conditions.

What happened

The aircraft collided with a four-foot snowbank located at the runway threshold during the landing phase of flight. This incident occurred while the aircraft was conducting a dual instructional flight, with the student pilot occupying the right seat.

During the approach, the pilot reported that visual identification of the snowbank was significantly compromised. The combination of inadequate lighting conditions and the presence of snow in the background made it difficult to distinguish the definition and edges of the obstacle from the surrounding environment.

The investigation

Investigation into the circumstances revealed a critical regulatory compliance issue regarding the flight instructor. The Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) had not performed any landings in this specific make and model of aircraft within the preceding 90 days prior to the incident.

This lack of recent experience in the specific aircraft type likely contributed to the inability to provide effective oversight or timely intervention during the critical landing phase, particularly given the challenging visual conditions described by the pilot.

Findings

The primary factors contributing to this accident include:

Visual misidentification of the snowbank due to poor lighting and background clutter.
Instructor proficiency gap, as the CFI lacked recent landing experience in the specific aircraft make and model within the required 90-day window.
Environmental conditions, specifically the snow at the runway threshold which obscured critical visual cues for touchdown point identification.

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain visual reference with the runway environment, resulting in a collision with a snowbank, due to inadequate lighting and background snow obscuring the runway threshold. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's lack of recent landing experience in this specific make and model of aircraft.

1983-01-01: Cessna 140 (N89399) — Springbrook, WI