- Date
- February 25, 2019, 11:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Ridgeland, SC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N10044Cessna 185
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190225010559A
- Case key
- 99029
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 during the landing roll, which resulted in a runway excursion and impact with a ditch.
Findings · 3
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, as the tailwheel touched down, the airplane veered right. The pilot attempted to correct with rudder to no avail. The airplane veered off the runway to the right and impacted a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, right aileron, and right elevator. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that the wind was calm. The pilot landed the airplane on runway 21.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during the landing roll, as the tailwheel touched down, the airplane veered to the right. The pilot attempted to correct with rudder to no avail. The airplane veered off the runway to the right and impacted a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, right aileron, and the right elevator. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that the wind was calm. The pilot landed the airplane on runway 21.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N10044
- Reported as
- Cessna 185 (A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 185-0419
- Built
- 1962
- Airframe hours
- 13,382.8
- Engine
- Continental IO-470-F29B, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft - federal · Public use
- Operator
- Usda Forest Service Fepp
- Registered owner
- Usda Forest Service Fepp
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 19, 2018
- Departed
- RBW · Walterboro, SC
- Destination
- 3J1 · Ridgeland, SC
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- 3J1 · Ridgeland-Claude Dean, runway 21, 2,692 × 70 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Handheld GPS, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B
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
- 76
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 14, 2018
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 4,459.3 total · 1,200 in this make and model · 4,334.7 as pilot in command · 3.5 in the last 30 days · 0.5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.37 inHg
- Observed at
- KNBC, 14 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 27, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.6 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.