- Date
- July 9, 1997, 21:16 local (Jul 10, 1997, 01:16 UTC)
- Place
- Springfield, KY
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8568TCessna 182
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 26, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970709017419A
- Case key
- 39399
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 misjudgment of distance and speed, and his delay in aborting the landing. Factors relating to the accident were: the pilot's failure to attain a proper touchdown point for landing, and proximity of the fence to the runway.
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 departed from a local airport for a 15 minute flight to a sod strip on his farm. After touchdown, the pilot decided he was traveling 'too fast' to complete a safe landing and applied power to clear a fence. The airplane struck the fence, and separated the nose wheel after landing in a field beyond the departure end of the strip. The airplane then nosed over and came to rest inverted.
Factual narrative
On July 9, 1997, at 2116 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 182, N8568T, was substantially damaged when it collided with a fence and terrain during an aborted landing at a private strip in Springfield, Kentucky. The certificated private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight that originated at the Lebanon-Springfield Airport (6I2), Springfield, Kentucky, at 2100. No flight plan had been filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In a written statement, the pilot said that he was attempting to land in a field on his farm. He stated that upon touchdown he decided he was traveling "too fast" to complete a safe landing and applied power to clear a fence in the flight path. The pilot stated the airplane "clipped" the fence and landed in a tobacco patch. The pilot further stated, "The nose wheel broke off when it went across the rows of tobacco. [The] plane slid 100 feet on its nose , then it went over on its back."
In the Recommendation section of the NTSB Form 6120.1/2 (How Could This Accident have Been Prevented), the pilot responded:
"I had a bad approach, I should have made a go around."
In a written statement, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Safety Inspector (Airworthiness) described the field as a 1,500 foot grass strip and that the pilot reported landing there "...many times in the past." He stated that the pilot's Medical certificate expired June 30, 1997. The Inspector further stated:
"...[the pilot] had about 238 total hours of flying time accumulated since 1983. He did not fly for about 10 years from 1984 to 1995 and took 6 instructional rides in the Cessna 182 with an instructor before flying solo in 1995. He took his bi-annual competency check on 9/29/95 and was due again in September 1997."
The pilot reported there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8568T
- Reported as
- Cessna 182
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 52468
- Airframe hours
- 3,805
- Engine
- Continental O-470-L, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David M. Reynolds
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 20, 1996 · 24 hours before
- Departed
- 6I2 · KY
- Destination
- NONE
- Airport
- NONE · Smith Farm, runway 24, 1,500 × 75 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 236 total · 148 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FTK, 32 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.