- Date
- August 15, 2018, 12:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ambler, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9949NCessna 180
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 26, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180815014219A
- Case key
- 98082
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for landing, which resulted in the left wing and horizontal stabilizer striking the ground.
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 in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that he landed the airplane on an upsloping, uneven sand bar. During the landing roll, the airplane's nose pivoted to the right, and the left wing and horizontal stabilizer struck the ground. The left-wing spar, the left aileron, and the left side of the vertical stabilizer and elevator sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that he landed on a sloping and uneven sand bar. The area selected for the landing roll increased in elevation. During the landing roll the nose pivoted to the right, and the left wing and horizontal stabilizer struck the ground. The left wing spar, the left aileron, and the left side of the vertical stabilizer and elevator sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9949N
- Reported as
- Cessna 180 (J)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18052604
- Built
- 1975
- Engine
- Continental O-470, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Birchwood Aircraft Services LLC
- Registered owner
- Fox, Heather J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- BTT · Bettles, AK
- Destination
- BTT · Bettles, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Handheld GPS
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
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- 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
- June 21, 2018
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 5,573 total · 1,565 in this make and model · 5,474 as pilot in command · 238 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- PAFM, 25 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 9, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.3 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.
Other investigations on N9949N · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.