# NTSB ANC13LA067: Cessna 180A, N4814, Anchorage, AK, July 24, 2013 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: July 23, 2013, 20:00 local (Jul 24, 2013, 04:00 UTC) - Place: Anchorage, AK - Coordinates: 61.174167, -149.998062 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=61.1742&lon=-149.9981&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Landing-flare/touchdown: Aircraft wake turb encounter](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/361) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report July 30, 2014 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: FAA - Anchorage FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 87558 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC13LA067 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/87558/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=87558 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC13LA067 ## Probable cause The pilot’s loss of directional control of the airplane during a wheel landing. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Planning/preparation](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061000): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot; cases with it: [Cessna 180A, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061000/cases.md?model=2072604), [All aircraft, 113 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061000/cases.md) - [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 180A, 15 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2072604), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md) - [Performance/control parameters: directional control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 180A, 15 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md?model=2072604), [All aircraft, 3,958 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Landing-flare/touchdown: Aircraft wake turb encounter](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/361) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 180A, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/361/sequence.md?model=2072604), [All aircraft, 37 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/361/sequence.md) - [Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230); cases with it: [Cessna 180A, 16 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md?model=2072604), [All aircraft, 4,585 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot had been cleared to land long on the runway as requested, but, because he became aware of a faster airplane that would be landing behind his airplane, he decided to land closer to the approach end so that he could exit the runway about midfield instead. The pilot reported that the new landing location resulted in an encounter with turbulence and a left crosswind from the lingering jet blast from a Boeing 747 that departed from an adjacent runway. The airplane veered sharply right during the wheel landing and ground-looped. The air traffic controller had included a "caution jet blast" advisory in the pilot's landing clearance, and Federal Aviation Administration guidance states that pilots conducting operations under visual flight rules are expected to adjust the flightpath, as necessary, to avoid wake encounters. ## Factual narrative On July 23, 2013, about 2000 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 180A tailwheel-equipped airplane, N4814, veered right and ground-looped during landing at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), Anchorage, Alaska. The commercial pilot was not injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight departed from Scooter's Landing Strip Airport (AK84), Sterling, Alaska, about 1930. The pilot stated that the ANC tower controller cleared his flight to land on runway 7L and approved his request to land long on the 10,600-foot runway. He stated that he typically landed the airplane on the last 2,000 to 3,000 feet of the runway so that he could exit near the end. He stated that this time, he was mindful of a Beech 1900 airplane that would be landing behind his airplane, so he planned to land and exit about midfield instead. The pilot stated that, during the approach and while his airplane was about 50 feet above the ground, his airplane encountered a "jet blast" from a Boeing 747 that had departed from runway 33 (which intersects runway 7L near the approach end). The pilot stated that the jet blast included a crosswind from the left and felt "like light to moderate turbulence" with "two distinct bumps." The pilot stated that his airplane made it through the jet blast and that he performed a wheel landing about 75 miles per hour. Shortly thereafter, the airplane veered sharply to the right and ground-looped. The airplane sustained damage to the left main landing gear, fuselage, both wings, left aileron, and left elevator. The pilot reported no known mechanical malfunctions what would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. The pilot stated that the landing clearance that the ANC tower controller provided to him included a "caution, jet blast" advisory. The pilot stated that he believed that the light quartering tailwind present at the time of his landing enabled the jet blast winds from the Boeing 747 to drift eastward into the runway environment. Chapter 7, Section 3 of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aeronautical Information Manual provides guidance to pilots of light aircraft regarding wake turbulence, which includes jet engine blast and wake vortices. The chapter describes vortex behavior and provides guidance for avoiding wake turbulence encounters. Section 7-3-1 notes that jet engine blast can cause damage and upsets if encountered at close range, and section 7-3-4 notes that, because wake vortices are the by-product of wing lift, the vortices are generated the moment that the departing transport category aircraft leaves the ground (after the point of rotation). Section 7-3-6 notes that, for pilots operating under visual flight rules, "WHETHER OR NOT A WARNING OR INFORMATION HAS BEEN GIVEN [by an air traffic controller]…, THE PILOT IS EXPECTEDTO ADJUST AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS AND FLIGHT PATH AS NECESSARY TO PRECLUDE SERIOUS WAKE ENCOUNTERS" (capitalization emphasis in original document)." The pilot was involved in a previous ground-loop accident in the airplane on May 23, 2006. In that accident, the airplane bounced during landing in crosswind conditions and veered to the right, sustaining substantial damage. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N4814](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N4814), registered now, S/N 32847, built 1957 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 180A - Registry model: [Cessna 180A](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-180a) (registry code 2072604) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental O-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470-series) (registry code 17026, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 32847 - Year built: 1957 - Airframe hours: 8400 - Engines: CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES 230 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, March 31, 2013, 25 hours before - Departed: AK84, Sterling, AK - Destination: ANC, Anchorage, AK - Airport: ANC, Ted Stevens Anchorage Intl, runway 07L, 10,600 × 150 ft, asphalt - Equipment: Stall warning system ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 59; injuries: none; commercial; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, with waivers/limitations; last flight review July 6, 2013; seat: left; restraint: 3-point; flight hours: 3,000 total, 1,400 in this make and model, 1,500 as pilot in command ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 290° at 4 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 25,000 ft broken - Temperature: 72 °F, dew point 54 °F - Altimeter: 30.03 inHg - Observed at: ANC ## 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 20130723015719A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20130723015719A), Jul 23, 2013: Cessna 180A, Anchorage, AK, Substantial damage. The airman landed his Cessna 180 on runway 7L just before taxi way ?d? At Anchorage international airport (anc). Airman stated that immediately after touch… ## Other investigations on N4814 (1) 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 ANC06CA060](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC06CA060), May 24, 2006: Cessna 180 (N4814), Sterling, AK, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot's inadequate compensation for a crosswind during the landing roll, which resulted in an on-ground encounter with the runway surface. Factors contributing to the accident were a crosswind,… ## Docket (2 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 2, 2014, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=87558. 1.1 MB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 1000 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40412901&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Master.PDF - Record of Conversation - Pilot (item 2, .PDF, 81 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40412902&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Record%20of%20Conversation%20-%20Pilot-Master.PDF 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.