- Date
- April 8, 2005, 16:44 local (23:44 UTC)
- Place
- Medford, OR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4948QCessna 185F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 27, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Portland FSDO
- Case key
- 61300
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 failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll. Factors include variable winds that at times were crosswinds.
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, who was landing in a variable wind, made a touchdown and initial landing roll that were uneventful, but as the aircraft slowed, it encountered a crosswind that he was unable to adequately compensate for. Almost immediately after encountering the crosswind, the aircraft veered sharply toward the side of the runway, and one of the wings made contact with the ground. It was later determined that the wing structure had sustained substantial damage. According to the pilot, there was nothing wrong with the flight control or rudder system. In a post-accident interview with the Investigator-In-charge, the pilot stated that the aircraft just got away from him.
Factual narrative
On April 8, 2005, at 1644 Pacific daylight time, the wing of a Cessna 185F, N4948Q, impacted the runway during the landing roll at Rogue Valley International Airport, Medford, Oregon. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant of the aircraft, was not injured, but the aircraft, which is owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal pleasure flight, which departed Anacortes, Washington, about two and one-half hours prior to the accident, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.
According to the pilot, who was landing in a variable wind, his touchdown and initial landing roll were uneventful, but as the aircraft slowed, it encountered a crosswind that he was unable to adequately compensate for. Almost immediately after encountering the crosswind, the aircraft veered sharply toward the side of the runway, and one of the wings made contact with the ground. It was later determined that the wing structure had sustained substantial damage. According to the pilot, there was nothing wrong with the flight control or rudder system. In a post-accident interview with the Investigator-In-charge, the pilot stated that the aircraft just got away from him.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4948Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 185F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 03583
- Engine
- Continental IO-520D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William C Salt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 74S · Anacortes, WA
- Destination
- KMFR · Medford, OR
- Airport
- KMFR · Rogue Valley, runway 32, 8,800 × 150 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 1, 2003
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 285 total · 225 in this make and model · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.69 inHg
- Observed at
- KMFR, 1 nm away
Other investigations on N4948Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.