- Date
- February 18, 2017, 17:08 local (Feb 19, 2017, 02:08 UTC)
- Place
- Fairbanks, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N185AECessna A185
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of visual reference
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 7, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA/ FSDO
- FAA report
- 20170218002919A
- Case key
- 94746
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 an appropriate glidepath to the runway and to use the vertical guidance system.
Findings · 5
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 the first landing of a currency flight, he "never realized he was low on the approach" and that the airplane impacted a snow-covered area short of the asphalt runway and nosed over. He added that the flight was conducted in "reduced light conditions" and that he "did not recognize the conditions as being flat light." The vertical stabilizer sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The National Weather Service reported that the sun set about 25 minutes after the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration Chart Supplement stated, in part, that the landing runway was equipped with a precision approach path indicator.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during the first landing of a currency flight, he "never realized he was low on the approach" and impacted a snow covered area short of the asphalt runway and nosed over. He added that the flight was conducted in "reduced light conditions" and he "did not recognize the conditions as being flat light." The vertical stabilizer sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The National Weather Service recorded a sunset time about 25 minutes after the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration Chart Supplement stated in part that the landing runway was equipped with a precision approach path indicator (PAPI).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N185AE
- Reported as
- Cessna A185 (F)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18502125
- Built
- 1973
- Airframe hours
- 2,853.5
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D24, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 1, 2016
- Departed
- FAI · Fairbanks, AK
- Destination
- FAI · Fairbanks, AK
- Airport
- FAI · Fairbanks Intl, runway 20L, 6,501 × 100 ft, asphalt
- 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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- September 1, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,952 total · 46 in this make and model · 1,888 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 0 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 7 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.62 inHg
- Observed at
- PAFA
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 3, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 414 KB 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.