- Date
- August 14, 1997, 16:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Buckeye, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1023FCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 4, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970814022509A
- Case key
- 29875
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 misjudgement of the clearance between the aircraft and the tree.
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 pilot intentionally touched down on the left side of the runway in order to miss a hole in the private dirt strip. During the landing roll, the left wing contacted a mesquite tree and the airplane spun around about 45 degrees to the left. The airplane began to slide sideways which damaged the right wing and broke the right landing gear.
Factual narrative
On August 14, 1997, at 1600 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 185, N1023F, landed alongside a private runway and hit a mesquite tree near Buckeye, Arizona. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and the commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated by the pilot as a personal flight under 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a VFR flight plan was not filed.
The pilot told the Federal Aviation Administration that he was landing to the left side of the runway in order to miss a badger hole. The pilot said he "went over too much" so that when he flared for landing the left wing hit some branches of a mesquite tree. This caused the airplane to spin around about 45 degrees to the left and the aircraft slid sideways, thus damaging the right wing and breaking the right landing gear. According to the pilot, the airplane came to rest approximately 35 yards from the initial impact with the mesquite tree.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1023F
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18502691
- Airframe hours
- 2,033
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Charles E. Bombardier
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 26, 1997 · 51 hours before
- Departed
- GYR · Goodyear, AZ
- Airport
- Pvt Dirt Airstrip, runway 18, 2,600 × 50 ft, 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 78
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,638 total · 4,380 in this make and model · 12,638 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 106 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GYR, 15 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.