- Date
- May 14, 2004, 17:30 local (May 15, 2004, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Paulden, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5341GCessna T182T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20040515016589A
- Case key
- 59228
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 inadequate compensation for the wind conditions and failure to maintain an adequate airspeed.
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 airplane touched down hard while landing at a private airstrip. The student pilot stated he flew around his farm and was coming in for landing at his private airstrip. The runway is oriented on a 120-degree magnetic heading. He indicated he had a "slight crosswind," but felt confident he could handle it. He said that during the landing flare, the airplane encountered a "dust devil," which "porpoised the airplane up." The pilot noticed the airspeed drop to zero, so he elected to continue with the landing instead of attempting a go-around at a low airspeed. The airplane impacted the ground damaging the main landing gear, the wings, and the empennage. The closest aviation weather reporting facility, which is approximately 13 miles south of the accident site, reported the wind from 250 degrees at 11 knots with gusts to 16 knots. The student reported having accumulated a total of 60 flight hours, of which approximately 35 hours were in the accident airplane. The pilot reported there were no anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
On May 14, 2004, at 1730 mountain standard time, a Cessna T182T single-engine airplane, N5341G, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during landing at a private airstrip near Paulden, Arizona. The airplane was registered to, and operated by, the pilot. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 local area instructional flight. The flight departed another private airstrip approximately 15 minutes prior to the accident.
During a telephone interview conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge, the student pilot stated he flew around his farm and was coming in for landing at his private airstrip. He indicated he had a "slight crosswind," but felt confident he could handle it. During the landing flare, the airplane encountered a "dust devil," which "porpoised the airplane up." The pilot noticed the airspeed drop to zero, so he elected to continue with the landing instead of attempting a go-around at a low airspeed. The airplane impacted the ground damaging the main landing gear, the wings, and the empennage.
At 1653, the weather observation facility at the Earnest A. Love Field, Prescott, Arizona (located approximately 13 miles south of the accident site), reported the wind from 250 degrees at 11 knots with gusts to 16 knots.
The student reported having accumulated a total of 60 flight hours, of which approximately 35 hours were in the accident airplane.
The pilot reported there were no anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5341G
- Reported as
- Cessna T182T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- T18208195
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-AK1A, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Timothy J. Coury
- Registered owner
- Tim's Buick, Pontiac, GMC Truck & Toyota, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- NONE · Paulden, AZ
- Airport
- Private Airstrip, runway 12, dirt
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 60 total · 35 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 11 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- PRC, 13 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.