- Date
- May 16, 2010, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Duluth, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6545ACessna 180
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 22, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Minneapolis FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100516005219A
- Case key
- 76045
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 failure to maintain directional control during landing.
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 was landing to the southeast on a 3,050 feet long by 75 feet wide asphalt runway. The winds reported at the time of the accident were from 070 degrees at 3 knots. The pilot said the airplane made a sudden turn to the left approximately 200 to 300 feet down the runway, after a normal touchdown. He applied right rudder and right brake but the airplane drifted off of the left side of the runway and the left wing tip impacted the ground. The airplane came to rest at a 45 degree angle to the runway. The pilot said he had very little recent flight experience. He felt this accident could have been prevented if he had flown with a flight instructor after having been away from flying for such a long period of time. There was substantial damage to the left wing tip and to the spar of the left wing. The pilot reported he was not injured.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing to the southeast on a 3,050-foot-long by 75-foot-wide asphalt runway. The winds reported at the time of the accident were from 070 degrees at 3 knots. The pilot said the airplane made a sudden turn to the left approximately 200 to 300 feet down the runway, after a normal touchdown. He applied right rudder and right brake, but the airplane drifted off the left side of the runway and the left wing tip impacted the ground. The airplane came to rest at a 45 degree angle to the runway. The pilot said he had very little recent flight experience. He felt this accident could have been prevented if he had flown with a flight instructor after having been away from flying for such a long period of time. There was substantial damage to the left wing tip and to the spar of the left wing. The pilot reported he was not injured.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6545A
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32442
- Airframe hours
- 4,826
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 6, 2010 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- DYT · Duluth, MN
- Destination
- DYT · Duluth, MN
- Airport
- DYT · Sky Harbor Airport, runway 14, 3,050 × 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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 24, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 181 total · 172 in this make and model · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- DYT
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 25, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 333 KB 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.
Other investigations on N6545A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.