- Date
- August 6, 1999, 11:46 local (15:46 UTC)
- Place
- Dorrance, PA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4352PCessna 182P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 18, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990806011069A
- Case key
- 47012
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 altitude, and his failure to do a go-around.
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 performed an approach to an approximately 1,700 foot long airstrip he constructed on a 30-degree up-slope, heading northwest. The airplane touched down long, and the pilot aborted the landing. As the airplane climbed, the pilot had just began to retract the wing flaps, when a gust of wind made the airplane start to sink. The main landing gear then struck a guy wire that spanned about 45 feet above the ground. The guy wire, which remained caught with the landing gear and attached to two telephone poles that also held power-lines, slowed the airplane, nosing it over. After the accident, the pilot stated that the airplane was running fine, and several attempts to have the power lines moved away from the airstrip were made, but received resistance from nearby neighbors.
Factual narrative
On August 6, 1999, about 1146 Eastern Daylight Time, a Cessna 182P, N4352P, was substantially damaged after impacting wires, while performing an aborted landing at a private airstrip near Dorrance, Pennsylvania. The certificated private pilot and the passenger received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight that originated at the Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector stated that the pilot was performing an approach to an approximately 1,700 foot long airstrip he constructed on a 30-degree up-slope, heading northwest. The airplane touched down long, and the pilot executed a go-around. As the airplane climbed, the pilot had just began to retract the wing flaps, when a gust of wind made the airplane start to sink. The main landing gear then struck a guy wire that spanned about 45 feet above the ground. The guy wire, which remained caught with the landing gear and attached to two telephone poles that also held power-lines, slowed the airplane, nosing it over. The airplane came to rest upright, in a nose down attitude.
After the accident, the pilot stated to the FAA Inspector that the airplane was running fine, and that he had just picked it up from maintenance. The pilot additionally stated that he had made attempts to have the power lines moved away from the airstrip, but received resistance from nearby neighbors.
Examination of the wreckage by the FAA Inspector revealed that there was no evidence of pre-impact failures with the airplane.
The weather reported by an airport located 7 miles to the north, at 1154 was, winds variable at 4 knots, and a temperature of 73 degrees Fahrenheit.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4352P
- Reported as
- Cessna 182P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18264661
- Airframe hours
- 2,574
- Engine
- Continental O-470-S, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Precision Tool And Machine Co.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 12, 1999 · 37 hours before
- Departed
- AVP · Wilkes-Barre, PA
- Destination
- NONE
- Airport
- NONE
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
- 64
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 191 total · 158 in this make and model · 72 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AVP, 12 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.