- Date
- May 22, 2022, 07:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Port Moller, AK · Private airstrip at remote lodge
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N757RCessna 182C
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20220522007519A
- Case key
- 105520
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 inadequate preflight inspection, which did not detect a screw in the control yoke column, and his failure to confirm flight control continuity before takeoff.
Findings · 2
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 reported that he remembered only portions of the accident sequence due to injuries sustained in the accident. He said that during takeoff from a remote, grass-covered site, as the airplane accelerated, he recalled discovering that there was no elevator control when he moved the control yoke aft. The next thing he remembered was being upside-down in the airplane immediately after the accident. The airplane subsequently impacted terrain, sustaining substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and vertical stabilizer. After the accident, a camp helper told the pilot that due to windy conditions the prior evening, he had placed a large screw through the hole in the control yoke column, but he had forgotten to tell him. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N757R
- Reported as
- Cessna 182C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 52554
- Built
- 1960
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Shepard Peter M, doing business as Bear River Lodge /Outfitters
- Registered owner
- Shepard Peter M
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 2022 · 15 hours before
- Destination
- Z52 · Port Moller, AK
- Airport
- Bear River Lodge
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 69
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 20, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 35,949 total · 15,000 in this make and model · 130 in the last 90 days · 85 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 20 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F
- Observed at
- 0.25 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 30, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 155 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.