- Date
- December 18, 2001, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Nashville, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2607QCessna 182K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 28, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20011218034019A
- Case key
- 53981
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 exceeding the proper touchdown point on the runway during the landing and his improper in-flight planning and decision. Factors relating to the accident were the pilot misjudging his speed and distance during the landing and the ditch.
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 said he was flying home from Hastings, Michigan. He said he checked the wind sock at his farm runway and found it indicated a direct crosswind. The pilot said with a direct crosswind, he always lands on about a 350 degree heading. The pilot said he touched down in the middle of the field. The pilot said his field has a little rise at each end and that he had to add a little power to get on the far side of the rise. The pilot said his power was back, he had full flaps extended, he flared and landed. He said everything seemed normal. The pilot said, "But 100+ (plus) feet I feel I got a little tailwind and I locked my brakes, shut mags (magnetos) off and thought I would make it but didn't, plane landed nose down in bottom of 8' (feet) drainage ditch." An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies. Just before the accident, the winds reported at Battle Creek, Michigan, 19 miles south-southwest of the accident site were 260 degrees at 10 knots.
Factual narrative
On December 18, 2001, at 1600 eastern standard time, a Cessna 182K, N2607Q, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged when it overran the runway (north direction, 1,940 feet by 70 feet, dry grass/turf) during landing on a private airstrip near Nashville, Michigan, and impacted into a ditch. Visual Meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated at Hastings, Michigan, at 1530, and was en route to Nashville, Michigan.
In his written statement, the pilot said he was flying home from Hastings. He said he checked the wind sock at the farm's runway and found it indicated a direct crosswind. The pilot said with a direct crosswind, he always lands on about a 350-degree heading. The pilot said he touched down in the middle of the field as he always does. The pilot said his field has a little rise at each end and that he had to add a little power to get on the far side of the rise. The pilot said his power was back, he had full flaps extended, he flared, and landed. He said everything seemed normal. The pilot said, "But 100+ (plus) feet I feel I got a little tailwind and I locked my brakes, shut mags (magnetos) off and thought I would make it but didn't, plane landed nose down in bottom of 8' (feet) drainage ditch."
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane at the accident site. The airplane had come to rest nose down in a ditch approximately 30 feet beyond the departure end of the pilot's privately-owned grass airstrip. The airplane's left wing was bent aft. The propeller blades were bent aft. The cowling was crushed aft. Flight control continuity was confirmed. An examination of the engine, engine controls, and other airplane systems revealed no anomalies.
At 1553, the wind conditions reported at Battle Creek, Michigan, 19 miles south-southwest of the accident site was 260 degrees at 10 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2607Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 182K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18257807
- Airframe hours
- 2,425.8
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Archie R. Jennings
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 27, 2001 · 117 hours before
- Departed
- 9D9 · Hastings, MI
- Destination
- Nashville, MI
- Airport
- Farm field, runway 36, 1,940 × 70 ft, grass/turf
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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- December 4, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 175 total · 144 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.82 inHg
- Observed at
- BTL, 19 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.