- Date
- August 31, 1986, 21:20 local (Sep 1, 1986, 05:20 UTC)
- Place
- Clear, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3539ECessna 180B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19860831045389A
- Case key
- 4743
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 plt & passenger were on a hunting trip & had selected a clearing on a brush covered hillside for a landing. The clearing had been previously used as an airstrip. While on final apch to land at dusk, the plt lost sight of the touchdown area due to darkness & shadows. During the landing, he overran the landing zone. The left main gear then encountered uneven terrain & collapsed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3539E
- Reported as
- Cessna 180B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 50398
- Airframe hours
- 6,100
- Engine
- Continental O-470-K, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David Virgil Buchanan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- FAI · Fairbanks, AK
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,400 total · 600 in this make and model · 1,260 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F
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 N3539E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.