N39PC

On May 31, 1999, at 1225, eastern daylight time, a Cessna 177RG, N39PC, veered off the runway and collided with a ditch during a full stop landing at the Columbia Municipal Airport, in Columbia, South Carolina. The personal flight was operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage; the private pilot and his passenger were not injured. The flight departed Ft Lauderdale, Florida, at 0930.

The pilot was enroute to New Jersey and had planned a refueling stop in Columbia, South Carolina. Upon arriving in the Columbia area, the pilot was issued a landing clearance for runway 5. The pilot reported that the airplane touched down on the main landing gear within the first third of the runway. The pilot further stated that as the nose wheel settled to the runway, the airplane pulled to the left side of the runway centerline. Application of right rudder by the pilot failed to arrest the left drift. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway surface and collided with a ditch.

The examination of the accident site disclosed that the airplane came to rest in a ditch adjacent to the runway. Landing gear tracks were observed from the edge of the paved runway surface to the point where the airplane rested. Examination of the runway surface failed to disclose any obvious tire tracks associated with braking action. The subsequent examination of the braking system also failed to reveal internal component failure or malfunction. No mechanical malfunction or component failure was discovered during the examination of the airplane.