# NTSB SEA04CA185: Cessna 180H, N3458Y, McCall, ID, September 8, 2004 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Minor injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: September 7, 2004, 17:00 local (Sep 8, 2004, 00:00 UTC) - Place: McCall, ID - Coordinates: 45.396667, -115.483329 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=45.3967&lon=-115.4833&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Minor injuries - Injuries: 1 minor - Status: Completed, report December 3, 2004 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Spokane, WA - NTSB case key (mKey): 60163 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA04CA185 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/60163/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA04CA185 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to attain proper touchdown point for landing on the backcountry airstrip. Contributing factors were downdraft weather conditions and the pilot's excessive speed for landing. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Overrun, landing - proper touchdown point - not attained, pilot in command (cause) - weather condition - downdraft (contributing factor) - airspeed - excessive, pilot in command (contributing factor) - Nose over, landing - roll ## Analysis While flying base leg into Wilson Bar Airstrip, the pilot said he encountered "several moderate downdrafts." He said that he flew the final approach with 65 to 70 miles per hour (mph), but encountered a severe downdraft on short final (there was an approximate 35 foot bank from the river to the end of the runway). He applied full power, "was able to keep the aircraft from being driven into the river," but now had "excessive" airspeed. He landed long (the runway was 1,500 feet in length), and overran the end of the runway and nosed over. The engine's mount, firewall, and cowling were bent, the vertical stabilizer and rudder were bent, and the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer were bent and wrinkled. In the AirNav.com additional remarks for Wilson Bar USFS Airstrip it states: "Strip downdrafts prevalent on approach to runway 24." ## Factual narrative On September 7, 2004, at approximately 1700 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 180H, N3458Y, was substantially damaged when it overran the airstrip (runway 24) and nosed over at Wilson Bar USFS Airstrip (ID76), near Mc Call, Idaho. The private pilot, the sole occupant of the airplane, received minor injuries. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight that originated from McCall, Idaho, 1 hour before the accident. The pilot had filed a VFR flight plan. The pilot said that while flying base leg into Wilson Bar Airstrip, he encountered "several moderate downdrafts." He said that he flew the final approach with 65 to 70 miles per hour (mph), but encountered a severe downdraft on short final (there is an approximate 35 foot bank from the river to the end of the runway). He applied full power, "was able to keep the aircraft from being driven into the river," but now had "excessive" airspeed. He landed long (the runway was 1,500 feet in length), and overran the end of the runway and nosed over. The engine's mount, firewall, and cowling were bent, the vertical stabilizer and rudder were bent, and the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer were bent and wrinkled. In the AirNav.com additional remarks for Wilson Bar USFS Airstrip it states: "Strip downdrafts prevalent on approach to runway 24." ## Aircraft - Registration: [N3458Y](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N3458Y), registered now, S/N 18051958 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 180H - Registry model: [Cessna 180H](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-180h) (registry code 2072618) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental O-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470-series) (registry code 17026, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 18051958 - Airframe hours: 4640 - Engines: Continental O-470-50 260 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Jesse Reagan Stone - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, March 11, 2004, 173 hours before - Departed: MYL, McCall, ID - Destination: ID76, McCall, ID - Airport: ID76, Wilson Bar USFS Arpt, runway 24, 1,500 × 50 ft, grass/turf ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 55; injuries: minor; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3; last flight review June 8, 2003; seat: left; flight hours: 1,098 total, 827 in this make and model, 1,003 as pilot in command, 155 in the last 90 days, 44 in the last 30 days, 4 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: calm - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 61 °F, dew point 39 °F - Altimeter: 30.06 inHg - Observed at: MYL, 40 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20040907020949A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20040907020949A), Sep 7, 2004: Cessna 180H, Dixie, ID, Substantial damage. (-23) N3458Y, a Cessna 180 aircraft received substantial damage upon landing at Wilson bar airstrip located on the salmon river in central Idaho. Mr. Jesse… ## Other investigations on N3458Y (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB NYC77FGM13](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC77FGM13), Feb 12, 1977: Cessna 180 (N3458Y), Apollo, PA, substantial damage From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.