- Date
- August 18, 2012, 15:47 local (19:47 UTC)
- Place
- Raeford, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N80GECessna 208B
- Defining event
- Landing: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120818021929A
- Case key
- 84746
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 decision to land in a grassy area next to a paved runway, which resulted in impact with a ditch and subsequent nose landing gear collapse.
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
According to the pilot, during the landing on a grassy area that was parallel to the paved runway, the airplane touched down and impacted a ditch near an intersecting taxiway. The airplane became airborne, touched down on the other side of the intersecting taxiway, bounced again, and then landed hard on the nose gear, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and subsequent collapse of the nose landing gear. In a telephone interview, the pilot stated that the ditch was about 200 feet from his initial touchdown point and that he regularly lands on the grass, in the opposite direction, in order to minimize the wear on the main landing gear tires. No preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures were noted with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, during the landing on a grassy area that was parallel to the paved runway, the airplane touched down and impacted a ditch near an intersecting taxiway. The airplane became airborne, touched down on the other side of the intersecting taxiway, bounced again, and then landed hard on the nose gear, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and subsequent collapse of the nose landing gear. In a telephone interview the pilot stated that the ditch was approximately 200 feet from his initial touchdown point and that he regularly lands on the grass, in the opposite direction, in order to minimize the wear on the main landing gear tires. No preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures were noted with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80GE
- Reported as
- Cessna 208B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 208B0585
- Airframe hours
- 2,965
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A, 850 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Skydiving · Part 91
- Operator
- Dugan, Briggs And Associates, doing business as DBA Aviation
- Registered owner
- Paraclete Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 24, 2012 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- SOP · Southernpines, NC
- Destination
- 5W4 · Raeford, NC
- Airport
- 5W4 · P K Airpark, runway 04, 3,402 × 60 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 41
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 20, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,342 total · 32 in this make and model · 1,191 as pilot in command · 64 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Other flight crew
- Age
- 29
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Last flight review
- November 27, 2011
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 770 total · 8 in this make and model · 700 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.84 inHg
- Observed at
- POB, 12 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 22, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 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.
Other investigations on N80GE · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.