- Date
- May 21, 2016, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Calhan, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N42553Cessna 182
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 25, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20160521004769A
- Case key
- 93222
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 incorrect pitch control during the landing flare in gusty crosswind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing and nose over.
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 during a touch-and-go landing on a dirt airstrip, he encountered crosswind gusts during the landing flare. The pilot further reported that the flare was too high and during touchdown the airplane began to porpoise. Subsequently, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane nosed over. The vertical stabilizer and left wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during a touch-and-go landing on a dirt airstrip, he encountered crosswind gusts during the landing flare. The pilot further reported that the flare was too high and during touchdown the airplane began to porpoise. Subsequently, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane nosed over. The vertical stabilizer and left wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N42553
- Reported as
- Cessna 182 (L)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18259074
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 4,885
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 30, 2015
- Departed
- FLY · Colorado Springs, CO
- Destination
- FLY · Colorado Springs, CO
- Airport
- 5V4 · Calhan, runway 35, 4,565 × 50 ft, dirt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 72
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- January 4, 2016
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 1,447 total · 1,447 in this make and model · 1,447 as pilot in command · 12.6 in the last 90 days · 2.5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KFLY, 14 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 14, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.0 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.