- Date
- April 14, 2019, 15:20 local (20:20 UTC)
- Place
- Limington, ME
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4796BCessna 180
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 3, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190414010779A
- Case key
- 99283
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 touchdown, which resulted in runway excursion onto snow.
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 reported that, after touchdown, during the landing roll, airplane ground looped and veered right. He corrected with left aileron and rudder, but the airplane continued right, exited the runway, and rolled over a snowbank. Subsequently, the airplane became momentarily airborne and then touched down again. The left main landing gear (MLG) sank into the snow, and the propeller, left MLG, and left wingtip impacted terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left-wing rib. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, after touchdown, during the landing roll, airplane ground looped and veered right. He corrected with left aileron and rudder, but the airplane continued right, exited the runway, rolled over a snowbank, and touched down hard again on terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left-wing rib. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4796B
- Reported as
- Cessna 180 (Undesignat)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31694
- Built
- 1955
- Airframe hours
- 3,667.71
- Engine
- Continental O-470-J, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 6, 2018
- Departed
- IZG · Fryeburg, ME
- Destination
- 63B · Limington, ME
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 63B · Limington-Harmon, runway 11, 2,973 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 25, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 315 total · 62 in this make and model · 255 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- KPWM, 18 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 8, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 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 N4796B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.