- Date
- February 14, 2016, 14:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Sleetmute, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2253CCessna 180
- Defining event
- Landing: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20160214003769A
- Case key
- 92722
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 decision to make contact with an unsuitable landing surface, resulting in a nose over.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot was on a personal cross-country flight to a remote, off-airport site, in a tailwheel-equipped airplane. The pilot said that before landing he intended to fly a low pass over the snow-covered site to determine the condition of the snowpack, a maneuver commonly known as dragging the landing site. He said that as the main landing gear wheels touched down atop the frozen layer of crusty snow, the wheels broke through, and the airplane subsequently nosed over sustaining substantial damage to the left wing and vertical stabilizer. The pilot stated there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot was on a personal cross-country flight to a remote, off-airport site, in a tailwheel-equipped airplane. In an effort to assess the suitability of the selected landing area, the pilot stated that he executed a maneuver commonly referred to as "dragging the runway." He said he made a low pass with the intention of the landing gear contacting the snow while keeping the weight of the airplane off the wheels. He said as the main landing gear wheels touched down atop the frozen layer of crusty snow, the wheels broke through, and the airplane subsequently nosed over, sustaining substantial damage to the left wing and vertical stabilizer. The pilot stated there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2253C
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30553
- Built
- 1953
- Airframe hours
- 5,900
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Crow Jack R
- Registered owner
- Crow Jack R
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 15, 2015 · 35 hours before
- Departed
- BET · Bethel, AK
- Destination
- SLQ · Sleetmute, AK
- Airport
- SLQ · Sleetmute
- Equipment
- None
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
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 2, 2016
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 1,250 in this make and model · 2,000 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 23 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.35 inHg
- Observed at
- PANI, 72 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 6, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.