- Date
- September 2, 2016, 17:00 local (Sep 3, 2016, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Yakutat, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N54AFCessna 180
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 5, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20160902015849A
- Case key
- 93985
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 inadequate inspection of the off-airport landing area, which resulted in an encounter with standing water and a nose over.
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
The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that during the landing roll on a grass field the airplane encountered standing water and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, the right wing strut, and the empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported as a safety recommendation to conduct a more thorough pre-landing reconnaissance of the intended landing zone.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that during the landing roll on a grass field the airplane encountered standing water and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, the right wing strut, and the empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported as a safety recommendation to conduct a more thorough pre-landing reconnaissance of the intended landing zone.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N54AF
- Reported as
- Cessna 180 (UNDESIGNAT)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30943
- Built
- 1954
- Airframe hours
- 3,874.6
- Engine
- Cont Motor 10520ACC, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2016
- Departed
- Yakutat, AK
- Destination
- Yakutat, AK
- Equipment
- Onboard weather, Handheld GPS, 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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 27, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 14,300 total · 990 in this make and model · 14,209 as pilot in command · 68 in the last 90 days · 28.3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- PAYA, 24 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 18, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 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.