- Date
- July 5, 2023, 12:10 local (17:10 UTC)
- Place
- Grand Prairie, TX · Grassy area adjacent to the runway
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N889SLCessna 180A
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20230705010979A
- Case key
- 192530
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. Contributing to the accident was the unexpected sudden wind shift.
Findings · 3
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 executed a wheel landing but before the tail wheel settled onto the runway, the airplane drifted to the right after encountering an unexpected wind shift. His efforts to maintain control were not successful. The airplane subsequently exited the runway and traversed across the grass towards a retention pond. In an attempt to stop the airplane before the pond, the pilot applied heavy braking, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The vertical stabilizer, rudder, left wing and lift strut sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He added that transitioning the tail wheel down onto the runway sooner instead of expediting his exit from the runway, he may have been able to maintain directional control during the wind shift.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N889SL
- Reported as
- Cessna 180A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 50226
- Built
- 1958
- Airframe hours
- 3,383.85
- Engine
- Continental O-470-K, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 8, 2023 · 22.47 hours before
- Departed
- KGPM · Grand Prairie, TX
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- GPM · Grand Prairie Municipal, runway 18/36, 4,001 × 75 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic primary flight display, Stall warning system, Auto-pilot, ADS-B
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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 27, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 438.1 total · 81.7 in this make and model · 416.2 as pilot in command · 25.1 in the last 90 days · 11.5 in the last 30 days · 3.4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KGPM, 5,756 nm away
- METAR
- KGPM 051650Z 26010KT 10SM SKC 33/22 A3005
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 5, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.8 MB 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.