- Date
- August 18, 1994, 20:30 local (Aug 19, 1994, 04:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ketchikan, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2791GCessna 182B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19940818044089A
- Case key
- 2570
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 failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the airplane during a hard landing. The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing and a downdraft were factors in the accident.
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 pilot and two passengers were landing at the conclusion of a personal cross-country flight. The pilot encountered a downdraft and the airplane dropped to the runway surface and bounced into the air while drifting to the left. The pilot applied right rudder to control the drift and when the airplane touched down again, cut the engine power and added flaps. The right wing of the airplane struck a VASI indicator housing located 54 feet to the left of the left edge of the runway. The pilot indicated that he was not aware that the VASI housing was damaged until notified by airport personnel the following day. The airplane received leading edge and aileron damage to the right wing.
Factual narrative
On August 18, 1994, at 2030 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 182 airplane, N2791G, owned and operated by the pilot-in-command, collided with the visual approach slope indicator (VASI) on runway 29 at the Ketchikan Airport, Ketchikan, Alaska during landing. The private certificated pilot and his two passengers, the sole occupants, were not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The pleasure flight, conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, last departed Wrangle, Alaska at 1945 and the intended destination was the site on which the accident occurred. No flight plan was in effect and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. Confirmation of substantial damage to the plane's right wing and aileron assembly was completed on September 16, 1994.
The pilot reported that during the approach for landing, he encountered a downdraft and the airplane dropped to the runway surface and then became airborne again while drifting to the left. The pilot indicated that he applied right rudder and when the aircraft touched down again, he cut the engine power and dropped two notches of flaps. The pilot was not aware that the airplane struck the VASI indicator housing until he was notified by airport personnel the following day.
Airport personnel reported that the VASI indicator housing is mounted on 4 frangible posts. The top of the housing is about 4 feet above the ground. The housing is located 54 feet to the left of the left edge of runway 29.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2791G
- Reported as
- Cessna 182B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 52091
- Engine
- Continental O-470-L, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Charlton, Albert J.
- Registered owner
- Charlton, Albert J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 23, 1993 · 22 hours before
- Departed
- WRG · Wrangle, AK
- Airport
- KTN · Ketchikan International, runway 29, 7,500 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 124 total · 8 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 290° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KTN, 1 nm away
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 N2791G · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.