- Date
- April 28, 2000, 18:00 local (Apr 29, 2000, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Aircraft
- N3725DCessna 182
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20000429042009A
- Case key
- 49120
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for landing. A factor in the accident was a soft area of runway.
Analysis
The private certificated pilot was landing to the west on his private airstrip. The grass airstrip, oriented east/west, is 1,300 feet long, and 100 feet wide. The pilot said the west end of the airstrip was soft, and during the landing roll, the airplane nose wheel dug into the soft ground. The propeller and the left wingtip then struck the ground. The airplane received damage to the propeller, about 12 inches of the outboard end of the left wing, and the left wing spar.
Factual narrative
On April 28, 2000, about 1800 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 182 airplane, N3725D, sustained substantial damage during landing at a private airstrip, about three miles east of Wasilla, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska, at 1740.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on April 29, 2000, the pilot reported he was landing to the west on his private airstrip. The grass airstrip, oriented east/west, is 1,300 feet long, and 100 feet wide. The pilot said the west end of the airstrip was soft, and during the landing roll, the airplane nose wheel dug into the soft ground. The propeller and the left wingtip then struck the ground. The airplane received damage to the propeller, about 12 inches of the outboard end of the left wing, and the left wing spar.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3725D
- Reported as
- Cessna 182
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 34425
- Airframe hours
- 4,418
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Curtis G. Green
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 10, 1999 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- PAMR · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- AK65
- Airport
- AK65 · Green'S Strip, runway 27, 1,300 × 100 ft, grass/turf
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 62
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 873 total · 380 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.