- Date
- August 9, 1997, 18:00 local (Aug 10, 1997, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Arriba, CO
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N182WJCessna 182P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 26, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970809021449A
- Case key
- 20311
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
failure of the pilot to properly plan the flight and determine the field conditions before landing. The soft runway condition was a related factor.
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
At the end of a cross-country flight to an unfamiliar private grass landing strip, the pilot performed a normal landing. The landing strip was soft, and when the pilot lowered the nose wheel to the ground during landing roll, it dug-in, and the aircraft nosed over. The owner's manual did not contain any procedure or information regarding soft field landings.
Factual narrative
On August 9, 1997, at 1800 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182P, N182WJ, nosed over during landing roll at a private airstrip near Arriba, Colorado. The private pilot and his two passengers were not injured and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91 and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed Englewood, Colorado, at 1700.
According to the pilot, he flew a standard pattern and landed with 20 degrees of flaps and 70 knots airspeed. The airstrip was grass, soft, and when the nose wheel touched down during landing roll it dug into the soft ground and the aircraft nosed over causing damage to the engine/propeller, wings, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot said he was not aware the field was soft and he was unfamiliar with the facility.
The Cessna 182 Owner's Manual does not contain soft field landing procedures or any other information pertaining to soft field landings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N182WJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 182P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18262737
- Airframe hours
- 2,750
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R15, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Michael Freilinger
- Registered owner
- Wings Of Denver
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 27, 1997 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- APA · Englewood, CO
- Destination
- NONE
- Airport
- Arriba (Private), runway 17, 5,000 × 65 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 146 total · 28 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.