- Date
- October 16, 1997, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Chama, NM
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7527KCessna 180J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 26, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971016039339A
- Case key
- 20459
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 of the airplane during its landing roll. Encounter with an embankment (dirt bank) 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
The pilot said he made a normal approach and wheel landing to the north, because the wind sock indicated a left quartering headwind at 10 knots. As soon as the tail wheel touched the runway, it began to shimmy. The airplane veered to the left and the pilot corrected using right brake. The airplane then veered to the right, struck a small embankment, and spun around to the right, coming to rest on a southerly heading. A statement submitted by the pilot-rated passenger corroborated the pilot's report, although he said the wind shifted suddenly as the tail wheel touched the ground. Examination of the tail wheel by FAA inspectors revealed no apparent previous damage. Damage to the airplane was confined to the main landing gear, right wing and left elevator.
Factual narrative
On October 16, 1997, approximately 1400 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 180J, N7527K, was substantially damaged when it ground looped during landing at a private airstrip in Chama, New Mexico. The private pilot and a private pilot-rated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Santa Rosa, New Mexico, approximately 1315.
The pilot said he made a normal approach and wheel landing to the north because the wind sock indicated a left quartering headwind at 10 knots. As soon as the tail wheel touched the runway, it began to shimmy. The airplane veered to the left and the pilot corrected using right brake. The airplane then veered to the right, struck a small embankment, and spun around to the right, coming to rest on a southerly heading. A statement submitted by the pilot rated passenger corroborated the pilot's report, although he said the wind shifted suddenly as the tail wheel touched the ground.
Examination of the tail wheel by FAA inspectors revealed no apparent previous damage. Damage to the airplane was confined to the main landing gear, right wing and left elevator.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7527K
- Reported as
- Cessna 180J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18052662
- Airframe hours
- 1,278
- Engine
- Continental O-470-S, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Terry T. Angevine
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 28, 1997 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- Q58 · Santa Rosa, NM
- Destination
- NONE
- Airport
- NONE · East Lobo Ranch, runway 36, 3,000 × 50 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,028 total · 61 in this make and model · 1,818 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.