N8305A

On May 9, 2005, about 2135 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 170B airplane, N8305A, sustained substantial damage when it veered off the runway, and collided with a ditch during the landing roll at the Homer Airport, Homer, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area instructional flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the student pilot/owner, who was accompanied by a flight instructor. The student pilot and the certificated flight instructor were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Homer Airport about 2000. No flight plan was filed, nor was one required.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on May 9, the flight instructor reported that he was providing flight instruction to the student who was practicing touch and go landings on runway 21 at Homer. The instructor said that the wind was from 230 degrees at 11 knots. As the airplane touched down it veered slightly to the right, and the student corrected for the swerve. A gust of wind from the right then lifted the right wing, and the airplane began to veer to the left. The student applied right aileron and right rudder, but the airplane departed off the left side of the paved runway onto an area of grass. The instructor applied engine power in an attempt to gain control of the airplane, but the airplane collided with a ditch that paralleled the runway. The airplane received structural damage to the right main landing gear and fuselage, and the right wingtip. The instructor indicated that the student pilot had accrued about 79 hours of instructional flight.