- Date
- March 23, 2019, 16:06 local (21:06 UTC)
- Place
- Lafayette, LA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N2744QCessna A185
- Defining event
- Taxi-from runway: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Case key
- 99183
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 the landing roll.
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, who was the owner of the airplane, stated that the flight was uneventful and that the touchdown and rollout was "smooth" until he began to turn the airplane off the runway onto the taxiway. At that time, the right brake "grabbed very hard" and the airplane ground looped, resulting in substantial damage to the left aileron and left wing structure. Postaccident examination of the brakes revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with the pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll.
Factual narrative
On March 23, 2019, about 1730 central daylight time, a Cessna 185 airplane, N2744Q, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Lafayette, Louisiana. The pilot and pilot-rated passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot, who was the owner of the airplane, reported that the flight was uneventful and that the touchdown and rollout was "smooth" until he began to turn the airplane off the runway onto the taxiway. At that time, the right brake "grabbed very hard" and the airplane ground looped, resulting in substantial damage to the left aileron and left wing structure. Postaccident examination of the brakes revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2744Q
- Reported as
- Cessna A185 (F)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18503528
- Built
- 1978
- Airframe hours
- 3,353.7
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D-90B, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 18, 2018 · 0.4 hours before
- Departed
- BTR · Baton Rouge, LA
- Destination
- LFT · Lafayette, LA
- Airport
- LFT · Lafayette Rgnl/Paul Fournet Field, runway 22L, 8,000 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, ADS-B
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 72
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 17, 2018
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 8,962 total · 250 in this make and model · 8,600 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- LFT
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 9, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.4 MB in all.