- Date
- April 25, 2005, 12:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4563BCessna 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Anchorage FSDO
- FAA report
- 20050425007849A
- Case key
- 61385
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 failure to compensate for a crosswind during the landing roll, which resulted in a loss of control and the airplane nosing over. A factor associated with the accident was a crosswind, and an inadvertent ground loop.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The commercial pilot reported he was landing the tundra tire-equipped tailwheel airplane on a dry, paved runway, with a slight crosswind from his right. During the landing touchdown, the airplane bounced slightly and settled onto the right main tire. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control, and the airplane went off the runway to the left, ground looped to the left, and nosed over. The airplane sustained structural damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot noted there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane. A weather observation taken at the time of the accident consisted of: Sky conditions and ceiling, clear; visibility, 10 statute miles; wind, 280 degrees (magnetic) at 5 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 25, 2005, about 1245 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N4563B, sustained substantial damage while landing at Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Girdwood Airport, Girdwood, Alaska, about 1100.
During an on scene conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on April 25, about 1315, the pilot reported that he was landing on runway 24, which required a correction for a slight right crosswind. The pilot stated that as the airplane touched down on the dry, paved runway, it bounced slightly and settled onto the right main tire, and the airplane veered to the left. He said he attempted to correct to the right, but the airplane went off the runway, ground looped to the left, and nosed over. The airplane sustained structural damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot noted there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.
Merrill Field weather observation at the time of the accident consisted of: Sky conditions and ceiling, clear; visibility, 10 statute miles; wind, 280 degrees (magnetic) at 5 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4563B
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31462
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 265 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gary R. LaRose
- Registered owner
- Gary R. LaRose
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- AQY · Girdwood, AK
- Destination
- MRI · Anchorage, AK
- Airport
- MRI · Merrill Field, runway 24
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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 5,500 total · 4,000 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- MRI
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N4563B · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.