- Date
- March 30, 2024, 13:10 local (18:10 UTC)
- Place
- Ben Wheeler, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3322UCessna 182F
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20240330011089A
- Case key
- 194010
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 control while landing in a gusting wind.
Findings · 4
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 reported that he was performing a practice soft field landing on a grass runway. During the landing flare, the wind increased, the airplane drifted to the left, and the indicated airspeed decreased by 10 mph. The pilot attempted to correct for the deviation when the airplane developed an excessive sink rate and landed hard on the sand adjacent to the left edge of the runway. The nose landing gear and propeller dug into the sand, the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the left aileron, the rudder, the vertical stabilizer, and the right wing strut. Wind at the time of the accident was 210° at 11 knots gusting to 17 knots. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3322U
- Reported as
- Cessna 182F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18254722
- Built
- 1963
- Airframe hours
- 5,317.1
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R-81-B, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 9, 2023
- Departed
- TA37 · Ben Wheeler, TX
- Destination
- TA37 · Ben Wheeler, TX
- Airport
- TA37 · Vaca Moo Airport, runway 18, 2,480 × 50 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 24, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 12,718 total · 3,505 in this make and model · 8,631 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 11 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.99 inHg
- Icing
- Unknown
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- KTYR, 16 nm away
- METAR
- 301800Z AUTO 21011G17KT 10SM SCT033 24/16 A2999 RMK T02400160
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 28, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.2 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.