# NTSB ANC05LA142: Cessna 185E, N1592F, Pilot Point, AK, September 10, 2005 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: September 9, 2005, 19:30 local (Sep 10, 2005, 03:30 UTC) - Place: Pilot Point, AK - Coordinates: 57.210094, -153.320251 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=57.2101&lon=-153.3203&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report June 28, 2006 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: Anchorage FSDO-03 - NTSB case key (mKey): 62462 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC05LA142 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/62462/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC05LA142 ## Probable cause The pilot's misjudged landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing and an overload failure of the main landing gear during the landing touchdown. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Hard landing, landing - flare/touchdown - flare - misjudged, pilot in command (cause) - Gear collapsed, landing - flare/touchdown - landing gear,main gear attachment - overload (cause) - landing gear,main gear - separation ## Analysis The airline transport certificated pilot was conducting a personal cross-country flight. He said during landing at a sod covered, off airport site, the left main landing gear collapsed. Upon inspection, he discovered that the left main landing gear strut attachment bolt had broken. He reported that a witness told him he initially bounced 12-18 inches on landing before settling onto the landing area a second time. The pilot said there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident. The airplane sustained structural damage to the gear box, left wing, aileron, and horizontal stabilizer. An examination of the landing gear attachment bolt, and new, exemplar bolts, by a metallurgist at the NTSB materials laboratory in Washington, D.C., revealed that the bolt had broken in a "ductile overstress separation in bending and shear mode." The laboratory report notes that the bolt was made of the appropriate material, and was of the proper dimensions. ## Factual narrative On September 9, 2005, about 1930 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 185E airplane, N1592F, sustained substantial damage when the left main landing gear collapsed during an off airport landing, about 30 miles southeast of Pilot Point, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal cross-country flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Pilot Point Airport, Pilot Point, about 1900. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on September 10, the pilot said during landing at a sod covered, off airport site, the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained structural damage to the gear box, left wing, aileron, and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot said that upon examination of the main landing gear strut, he found the main landing gear attachment bolt had broken. He said there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident. In a written statement to the NTSB dated October 10, the pilot wrote that a by-stander told him that upon initial contact during landing, the airplane bounced 12-18 inches off the ground before settling onto the runway area a second time. The broken bolt, along with new, exemplar bolts, from the same production lot, were sent to the NTSB materials laboratory in Washington, D.C., for examination. The examination revealed that the landing gear retention bolt had broken in a "ductile overstress separation in bending and shear mode." The examining metallurgist concluded the bolt was made of the appropriate material, and was of the proper dimensions. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N1592F](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N1592F), registered now, S/N 185-0974, built 1966 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 185E - Registry model: [Cessna 185E](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-185e) (registry code 2072816) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (registry code 17032, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 0974 - Airframe hours: 4050 - Engines: Continental IO-520 300 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Frederick Reynolds - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, May 1, 2005 - Departed: PNP, Pilot Point, AK - Destination: Pilot Point, AK ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 51; injuries: none; airline transport; airplane ratings: single-engine sea, multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, with waivers/limitations; last flight review August 1, 2005; seat: left; flight hours: 6,800 total, 3,500 in this make and model, 6,700 as pilot in command, 50 in the last 90 days, 20 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Dawn - Wind: 90° at 10 knots, gusting 15 - Visibility: 24 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 45 °F, dew point 39 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20050909024369A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20050909024369A), Sep 9, 2005: Cessna 185E, Pilot Point, AK, Substantial damage. (-23) During a telephone conversation with a FAA ASI and the NTSB iic, the Pilot stated that during landing on a sod covered, off airport site, located 30 sm… ## Other investigations on N1592F (4) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB ANC13CA106](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC13CA106), Sep 29, 2013: Cessna 185E (N1592F), Pilot Point, AK, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot's decision to land the airplane on the ramp, in the vicinity of buildings, in gusty wind conditions. - [NTSB ANC90FA010](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC90FA010), Nov 7, 1989: Cessna A185E (N1592F), Anchorage, AK, substantial damage. Probable cause: THE THROTTLE CONTROL LINKAGE BECAME DISCONNECTED ON THE FIRST FLIGHT AFTER AN ANNUAL INSPECTION DUE TO IMPROPER MAINTENANCE. DARKNESS AND HIGH VEGETATION WERE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS. - [NTSB ANC88LA058](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC88LA058), May 17, 1988: Cessna 185E (N1592F), Tuntutuliak, AK, substantial damage - [NTSB ANC77DA080](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC77DA080), Aug 29, 1977: Cessna 185 (N1592F), Barrow, AK, incident, minor damage From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.