- Date
- September 4, 1999, 11:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Sandpoint, ID
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N71685Cessna 182M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 2, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990904047089A
- Case key
- 47558
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 improper flare. Factors include a runway that sloped uphill, and the pilot's failure to familiarize himself with the destination airstrip prior to departure.
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 was flying into a private strip that he had not familiarized himself with. Although he was not aware of it, the runway he was landing on sloped uphill. Because of the upslope, the pilot misjudged his flare and impacted the terrain hard enough to cause substantial damage to the aircraft.
Factual narrative
On September 4, 1999, approximately 1130 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 182M, N71685, was damaged during a hard landing at Bird 2 Airstrip, Sandpoint, Idaho. The commercial pilot and his three passengers were not injured, but the aircraft, which was owned by an acquaintance of the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal pleasure flight, which departed Felts Field, Spokane, Washington, about 30 minutes earlier, 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, he was going into a private strip that he had not been to before, and prior to his landing, he was not aware that the runway sloped uphill. Because of the upslope, he misjudged his height above the ground and began his landing flare too late. The delayed flare, along with the upslope of the runway resulted in contact hard enough to damage the propeller, landing gear, and firewall structure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N71685
- Reported as
- Cessna 182M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18259718
- Engine
- Continental O-470-M, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Alan Chertok
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- SFF · Spokane, WA
- Destination
- ID19
- Airport
- ID19 · Bird 2, runway 31, 1,900 × ft, grass/turf
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
- 59
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 790 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
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 N71685 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.