- Date
- August 10, 1995, 10:10 local (14:10 UTC)
- Place
- Raiford, FL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N461MCCessna 404
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 19, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950810036279A
- Case key
- 37847
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for landing.
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
While landing on a wet, soft, sod runway, the pilot lost control of the airplane. The nose gear collapsed and the airplane skidded off the runway into a ditch.
Factual narrative
On August 10, 1995, about 1010 eastern daylight time, N461MC, a Cessna 404, registered to and operated by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, a 14 CFR Part 91 public use flight, experienced a nose gear collapse on landing at Raiford Prison Airstrip, Raiford, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an IFR flight plan had been filed. The airplane was substantially damaged and the pilot and two passengers reported no injuries. The flight had originated from Titusville, Florida, about 0930 the same day.
The pilot reported that while landing on the wet, sod airstrip the airplane decelerated rapidly, and the nose gear collapsed. The airplane then skidded into a ditch.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N461MC
- Reported as
- Cessna 404
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0674
- Airframe hours
- 3,547
- Engine
- Continental GTSIO-520-M, 375 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Monroe County Sheriff'S Office
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 11, 1994 · 351 hours before
- Departed
- TIX · Titusville, FL
- Destination
- FL28 · FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- FL28 · Raiford Prison Airstrip, runway 33, 4,000 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 56
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,597 total · 35 in this make and model · 5,253 as pilot in command · 93 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GNV, 25 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.