# NTSB SEA94LA224: Cessna 206, N859A, Bliss, ID, August 27, 1994

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report
- Date: August 26, 1994, 20:00 local (Aug 27, 1994, 02:00 UTC)
- Place: Bliss, ID
- Coordinates: 42.989437, -114.949775 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=42.9894&lon=-114.9498&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 4 uninjured
- Status: Completed, report October 13, 1995
- Report: Approved by Office Director
- NTSB case key (mKey): 42010
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA94LA224
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/42010/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=42010
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA94LA224

## Probable cause

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL. FACTORS INCLUDE SUNGLARE FROM THE SETTING SUN, AND THE SOFT TERRAIN ALONG THE SIDE THE RUNWAY.

## Sequence of events

In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf).

- Nose over, landing - aborted
  - directional control - not maintained, pilot in command (cause)
  - light condition - sunglare (contributing factor)
  - terrain condition - soft (contributing factor)

## Analysis

WHILE LANDING INTO THE SETTING SUN ON A 30 FOOT WIDE AIRSTRIP, THE PILOT ELECTED TO ABORT THE LANDING BECAUSE THE SUNGLARE MADE IT HARD TO SEE THE RUNWAY. DURING THE ABORTED LANDING THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL, AND THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED THE RUNWAY. AFTER EXITING THE RUNWAY, THE AIRCRAFT NOSED OVER IN THE SOFT TERRAIN OF AN ADJACENT POTATO FIELD.

## Factual narrative

On August 26, 1994, approximately 2000 mountain daylight time (MDT), a Cessna 206, N859A, nosed over during a VFR go-around at a private airstrip near Bliss, Idaho. The private pilot and his three passengers were not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The personal pleasure flight, which departed Smiley Creek Airport, Galena, Idaho, about one-half hour earlier, was in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.

According to the pilot, because he was landing almost directly into the setting sun on a 30 foot wide airstrip, he lost sight of the runway during the landing flare. He therefore attempted a go-around while looking into the glare of the setting sun. During the go-around, the aircraft departed the airstrip and nosed over in the soft terrain of a potato field alongside the runway.

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N859A](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N859A-2015-01-12), registration cancelled 2015-01-12, S/N U20603237, built 1976 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 206
- Registry model: [Cessna U206F](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-u206f) (registry code 2073333) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Continental IO-520-D](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-d) (registry code 17236, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: U20603237
- Airframe hours: 3301
- Engines: CONTINENTAL IO-520-F 300 horsepower reciprocating
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Personal, Part 91
- Registered owner: Elliott, Jess D.
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: Annual, June 15, 1994, 36 hours before
- Departed: U87, SMILEY CREEK, ID
- Airport: Private Airstrip, runway 27, 1,600 × 30 ft, dirt

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 52; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; flight hours: 615 total, 486 in this make and model, 615 as pilot in command, 54 in the last 90 days, 28 in the last 30 days

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 270° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: none
- Temperature: 81 °F

## 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 19940826024049A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19940826024049A), Aug 26, 1994: Cessna U206F, Bliss, ID, Substantial damage. Landing with setting sun in eyes on narrow strip. Tried go around. Veered off runway and nosed over.

## Docket (2 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 19, 2022, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=42010. 515 KB in all.

- Supplement s (item 1, PDF, 1 page, 52 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=13445015&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Supplement%20S-Master-Rel.pdf
- Pilot-operator aircraft accident report NTSB form 61201-2 (item 2, PDF, 6 pages, 463 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=13444469&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Pilot-Operator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report%20NTSB%20Form%2061201-2-Master-Rel.pdf

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.

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