NTSB Factual Report

On April 1, 2001, at 1435 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172M, N9572H, collided with a fence during an attempted aborted landing on runway 12 at the North Las Vegas Air Terminal (VGT), Las Vegas, Nevada, and came to rest upright in a construction area on the airport. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was operated by West Air Aviation and rented by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight that departed the Scottsdale, Arizona, airport about 1215. The flight was scheduled to terminate at VGT. A visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed.

In the pilot's written statement he stated that prior to departure from Scottsdale he had received a weather briefing from the Flight Service Station (FSS) for his entire route of flight.

He transitioned through Las Vegas Class B airspace and was handed off to VGT. He was instructed by VGT to fly right traffic for runway 12 and was cleared to land. He was then instructed to fly left traffic for runway 12. The pilot reported that VGT ATIS was reporting winds from 140 degrees at 10 knots gusting to 20 knots. He did not feel the winds were a problem. During the final approach he "crabbed" into the wind to compensate for the crosswind. As the airplane came over the runway, he applied left rudder and right aileron and lined up with the centerline of the runway.

After touchdown he applied the brakes. The airplane veered sharply to the right towards a ditch. The pilot attempted to counteract the movement to the right with left rudder input. The airplane continued along its direction of travel and he applied full throttle to abort the landing. He indicated that the airplane's direction of travel was about 20 degrees from the runway centerline.

He heard a voice say there was an airplane off the runway and simultaneously heard metal scraping. He saw the right wing pass over a metal box that he believed was a runway or taxiway sign. At that point the airplane was in a shallow left bank and climb attitude. The pilot saw the corner of the taxiway, still in a climb attitude, but he saw that the bank angle was increasing. He returned the airplane to a level attitude and lowered the nose. He saw a dirt "bladed" road in front of him. He engaged the right rudder to align the airplane with the road and landed. The airplane continued the landing roll until the pilot was instructed by a local tower controller to stop. He believed that the airplane passed over a runway or taxiway sign.

The pilot stated that he landed with 20 degrees of flaps down selected. He did not recall any mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident, or during the accident sequence.

Review of Federal Aviation Administration records disclosed that the local controller had provided wind information to the pilot after clearing him to land. Wind information obtained from ASOS was from 140 degrees at 10 knots gusting to 20 knots.

The VGT aviation routine weather report (METAR) issued at 1352 reported: visbility 10 statute miles broken sky condition at 25,000; winds from 190 at 15 knots; temperature 82 degrees Fahrenheit; dew point 50 degrees Fahrenheit; and altimeter 29.61 inHg. At 1440, reported winds were from 190 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 20 knots. At 1452, the wind conditions were updated. Winds were reported from 190 degrees at 15 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the existing crosswind condition, and his failure to maintain runway alignment.