- Date
- August 28, 1998, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Bingham, ME
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N735PSCessna 182Q
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980828022399A
- Case key
- 43962
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 inattention to changing wind conditions, and lack of correction for the change. A factor in the accident was the damp grass 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
According to a witness, the airplane made a short field approach to the same runway that the three previous airplanes had used. The wind, estimated at 5 knots, shifted 180 degrees, and the airplane touched down long. It ground looped, and went over a river bank at the end of the runway. The airport was located in an area surrounded by mountains, except for the river at the end of the runway, and was known for wind shifts. The pilot stated that he never noticed the wind shift.
Factual narrative
On August 28, 1998, about 1430 Eastern Daylight Time, a Cessna 182Q, N735PS, was substantially damaged during landing at Gadabout Gaddis Airport (ME08), Bingham, Maine. The certificated private pilot and his passenger were uninjured, and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed for the personal flight from Augusta State Airport (AUG), Augusta, Maine, to Gadabout Gaddis Airport. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to a witness, another pilot, the airplane made a short field approach to the same runway that three previous airplanes had used. The wind, estimated at 5 knots, shifted 180 degrees, and the airplane touched down long. It ground looped, and went over the river bank at the end of the runway. The witness also stated that the terrain around the airport was mountainous, "except for the river at the end of the runway, which will often cause wind shifts."
The pilot stated that he "never noticed a wind change," and that the airplane's "touchdown point increased, but not dramatically." After touchdown, he applied the brakes, but on the damp grass runway, the airplane slowed but did not stop. The pilot said he then tried to ground-loop the airplane, but it slid off the end of the runway and over the river bank.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N735PS
- Reported as
- Cessna 182Q
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18265582
- Engine
- Continental O-470-U, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger Biagetti
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- AUG · Augusta, ME
- Destination
- ME08
- Airport
- ME08 · Gadabout Gaddis, runway 35, 2,000 × 200 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 sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 967 total · 850 in this make and model · 850 as pilot in command · 26 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N735PS · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.