Accident Overview
On March 9, 2019, at 1805 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172, registration N7367G, was substantially damaged during a runway excursion while landing at South Jersey Regional Airport (VAY) in Mount Holly, New Jersey. The private pilot and a passenger were not injured. The aircraft was operated by the Windwalker Aero Club of Lumberton, New Jersey, under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time; departure location and time are unknown.
Sequence of Events
According to the pilot, the flight was uneventful until the landing roll. As he began to apply the brakes, his seat back collapsed, causing him to lose sight of the runway. When he was able to sit back up, the airplane had veered off the left side of the runway and struck a segmented circle.
Postaccident Examination
A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot's seat back was found disconnected on the left-hand side at the seat base assembly attach point. The bolt head that attached the seat back to the seat base had sheared off from the seat back assembly. The bolt (part number AN#-17A) was removed by the operator's maintenance provider and given to the aero club manager, who later reported misplacing it. As a result, the bolt was not examined, and its failure mode remains unknown.
The accident was initially reported by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an incident but was upgraded to an accident on June 11, 2019.
Operator and Inspection History
The aircraft's last annual inspection was completed on September 15, 2018, at a total time of 3,451.42 hours. The most recent 100-hour inspection occurred about one month before the accident, on January 8, 2019, at a total time of 3,552.92 hours.
Pilot Information
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine and multiengine, and instrument airplane. He was also a certified flight instructor for airplane single-engine land. His last FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on July 10, 2017, at which time he reported a total of 12,000 flight hours.
Weather Conditions
At 1754, the reported weather at VAY was wind from 120° at 6 knots, gusting to 16 knots; visibility 10 miles; and clear skies.