- Date
- August 2, 2006, 07:20 local (14:20 UTC)
- Place
- Elk City, ID
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3239DCessna 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20060802015049A
- Case key
- 64288
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, which resulted in a ground loop during the landing roll.
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 the pilot, he landed to the north on the 4,100-foot-long turf airstrip and had slowed the airplane to about 25 mph when it "went to the right of centerline." He attempted to regain directional control by using left rudder and brake, but was unable to prevent the airplane from ground looping. The pilot commented that he "should have been faster on the rudder pedals to not let it get away."
Factual narrative
On August 2, 2006, about 0720 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 180, N3239D, sustained substantial damage when it ground looped during landing at Moose Creek USFS Airport, Elk City, Idaho. The private pilot and the two passengers were not injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed from a private airstrip in Sandpoint, Idaho about 0600.
According to the pilot, he landed to the north on the 4,100-foot-long turf airstrip and had slowed the airplane to about 25 mph when it "went to the right of centerline." He attempted to regain directional control by using left rudder and brake, but was unable to prevent the airplane from ground looping. The pilot commented that he "should have been faster on the rudder pedals to not let it get away." An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the left wing sustained structural damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3239D
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32037
- Engine
- Continental O-470, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Sandpoint, ID
- Destination
- 1U1 · Elk City, ID
- Airport
- 1U1 · Moose Creek USFS, runway 01
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 387 total · 6 in this make and model · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
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 N3239D · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.