- Date
- May 17, 2003, 11:20 local (17:20 UTC)
- Place
- Payette, ID
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3450FCessna 182J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20030517008079A
- Case key
- 57009
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-in-command's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll resulting in the aircraft departing the runway environment, collapsing the nose gear and nosing over. Contributing factors were the pilot-in-command's failure to execute a go around maneuver, the gusty crosswind conditions and the soft terrain.
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 entered the pattern and set up for an approach and landing on runway 31, a 3,000 foot long by 50 foot wide asphalt runway. Winds at a nearby airport were reported as 240 degrees magnetic at 11 knots gusting to 16 knots. The aircraft touched down close to the threshold/right side of the runway and immediately began drifting right. The aircraft then left the runway surface but tracked parallel to the runway on sandy soil along the runway's northeast edge impacting a runway light. The nose gear collapsed and the aircraft nosed over. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunction with the aircraft and later reported that he should have made a go around decision when the aircraft began drifting right.
Factual narrative
On May 17, 2003, approximately 1120 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182J, N3450F, registered to and being flown by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during a loss of control, nose gear collapse and subsequent nose over, while landing on runway 31, at the Payette Municipal airport, Payette, Idaho. The pilot and pilot rated passenger were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was personal, was operated under 14CFR91, and originated from Cascade, Idaho, approximately 1045.
The pilot reported to an FAA inspector that the aircraft touched down close to the threshold/right side of the 3,000-foot long by 50-foot wide runway and the aircraft immediately began drifting right. The aircraft left the runway surface but tracked parallel to the runway on sandy soil along the runway's northeast edge. As the aircraft decelerated over about 1,000 feet of roll the nose wheel dug in and eventually folded aft, and the aircraft nosed over. During the landing roll the aircraft also impacted a runway light. The pilot reported that there was no mechanical malfunction with the aircraft, and winds at Ontario, Oregon, shortly after the accident and located approximately 7 nautical miles south-southwest were reported from 240 degrees magnetic at 11 knots gusting to 16 knots.
The pilot later reported (refer to attached NTSB Form 6120.1) that he "...should have made a go around decision when [the] airplane started to drift toward the right edge of [the] runway...."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3450F
- Reported as
- Cessna 182J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18257450
- Airframe hours
- 2,649
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R25B, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Tucker, James W.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 4, 2003 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- U70 · Cascade, ID
- Destination
- S75 · Payette, ID
- Airport
- S75 · Payette Municipal, runway 31, 3,000 × 50 ft, asphalt
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- June 25, 2002
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 348 total · 284 in this make and model · 348 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Other flight crew
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- September 15, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 134 total · 78 in this make and model · 134 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 11 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- ONO, 7 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.