- Date
- March 30, 1999, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hilton Head, SC
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N185MNCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 25, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990330023929A
- Case key
- 46004
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 evaluation of weather information that resulted in his failure to maintain directional control during landing. Factors were gusting winds, and a tail wind.
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 reported that, the airplane touched down in the center of the runway on the main landing gear. As the tail wheel started down the pilot experienced wind gusts which raised the right wing and instantly rotated the airplane 35 degrees to the right. The airplane veered off the right side of the runway and collided with a concrete culvert. The airplane came to a stop and there was substantial damage done to the left wing and left main landing gear. No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the pilot. A review of existing weather data disclosed that surface winds were approximately 180 degrees at 14 knots with gusts to 24 knots
Factual narrative
On March 30, 1999, at 1300 eastern standard time, a Cessna 185, N185MN, veered off runway 3, during a landing at the Hilton Head Airport in Hilton Head, South Carolina. The personal flight was operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The commercial pilot and three passengers were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Apex, North Carolina, at 1015.
The pilot stated that before departing, he telephoned Carolina Air Service on Hilton Head Island and received current weather information. The pilot also watched the Weather Channel and received additional weather information for his planned destination. According to the pilot, after an uneventful flight, he established an approach for the north runway at Hilton Head Island. The prevailing winds were out of the northeast at 15 knots. The approach and landing were made with twenty degrees of wing flaps. According to the pilot, the airplane touched down in the center of the runway on the main landing gear. As the tail wheel started down, the pilot reported that "a significant gust of wind" raised the right wing and instantly rotated the airplane 35 degrees to the right. The airplane veered off the right side of the runway and collided with a concrete culvert
No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the pilot. A review of existing weather data disclosed that surface winds were approximately 180 degrees at 14 knots with gusts to 24 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N185MN
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 185-03803
- Airframe hours
- 6,225
- Engine
- Continental IO-520 D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James D. Johnson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 18, 1998 · 211 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Cary, NC
- Destination
- HDX
- Airport
- HXD · Hilton Head, runway 5, 4,000 × 75 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
- 51
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer, Military
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 100 in this make and model · 250 in the last 90 days · 85 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 14 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SAV, 25 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.