- Date
- October 15, 1998, 08:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4955ACessna 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19981015035509A
- Case key
- 45237
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 compensation for crosswind conditions. Factors associated with the accident were a crosswind, and loose gavel.
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 commercial pilot was landing to the west on a remote dirt road. He reported that as the airplane touched down, a strong gust of wind blew the airplane to the left, and the left wheel contacted loose gravel. The pilot stated that he applied full power in an attempt to abort the landing, but the airplane did not have sufficient airspeed to regain flight. The airplane veered off the road, and the left wheel struck a piece of driftwood. The left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane's left wing struck the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, and fuselage. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On October 15, 1998, about 0845 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 180 airplane, N4955A, sustained substantial damage while landing at an off airport site located about 18 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, about 0815.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on October 15, the pilot reported that he was landing to the west on a remote dirt road. The pilot stated that while on approach to the west, he encountered winds from the north at 15 knots, with gusts to 25 knots. He reported that as the airplane touched down, a strong gust of wind blew the airplane to the left, and the left wheel contacted loose gravel. The pilot stated that he applied full power in an attempt to abort the landing, but the airplane did not have sufficient airspeed to regain flight. The airplane veered off the road, and the left wheel struck a piece of driftwood. The left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane's left wing struck the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, and fuselage.
The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4955A
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32352
- Airframe hours
- 4,800
- Engine
- Continental O-470-K, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Lawrence Walter Seethalter
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 12, 1998 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- EDF · Elmendorf Afb, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 676 total · 242 in this make and model · 676 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
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 N4955A · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.