- Date
- June 9, 2002, 14:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Columbia, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2228CCessna 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20020609010579A
- Case key
- 54904
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 encountered a crosswind gust during the landing roll, resulting in a ground loop and nose over.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plane encountered a wind disturbance resulting in a ground loop and the airplane coming to rest inverted. While on the landing roll the gust caught the left wing and tail, lifting it off the ground. The tail continued to lift until the prop struck the ground, and flipped the airplane over. The pilot stated the AWOS reported the winds to be 290 at 8 knots gusting to 15 knots. The airport has two runways, and are on a magnetic heading of 170-350 and 110-290. Runway 11-29 is 2,600 feet long and 100 feet wide, and is turf.
Factual narrative
On June 9, 2002, about 1415 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 180, N2228C, ground looped and overturned during landing at Columbia Airport (O22), Columbia, California. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot and passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Palo Alto Airport (PAO), Palo Alto, California, at 1330, en route to Columbia Airport. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot stated that he witnessed two other aircraft landing on runway 35, so he also landed on runway 35. The AWOS at Columbia Airport reported the winds to be 290 degrees at 8 knots gusting to 15. He made a three-point landing and was coming to a stop when a sudden burst of wind lifted the left wing and the tail off of the ground, swinging the tail to the right. The tail continued to lift until the propeller struck the ground and the airplane flipped over. He said that the plane was tracking straight on the centerline at 25 miles per hour when the wind disturbance was encountered.
The airport has two runways, and are on a magnetic heading of 170-350 and 110-290. Runway 11-29 is 2,600 feet long and 100 feet wide, and is turf.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2228C
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30528
- Airframe hours
- 1,504.4
- Engine
- Continental O-470A, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Tierney W. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 9, 2001 · 15.4 hours before
- Departed
- PAO · Palo Alto, CA
- Destination
- KO22 · Columbia, CA
- Airport
- O22 · Columbia, runway 35, 4,670 × 75 ft, asphalt
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 land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- December 2, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 373 total · 91 in this make and model · 373 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 20 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.82 inHg
- Observed at
- MOD, 35 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 19, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 524 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.