- Date
- July 25, 2013, 11:27 local (17:27 UTC)
- Place
- Pocatello, ID
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N31YHCessna A185F
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 19, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administratin
- FAA report
- 20130725013149A
- Case key
- 87583
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 landing with gusting wind and a quartering tailwind.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that during the landing with a gusting crosswind and a wind shift to a quartering tailwind, the airplane's right wing lifted up after he had lowered the tail to the runway. He applied corrective control inputs, however, the airplane yawed sideways causing the left landing gear to collapse and substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during the landing with a gusting crosswind and a wind shift to a quartering tailwind, the airplane's right wing lifted up after he had lowered the tail to the runway. He applied corrective control inputs, however, the airplane yawed sideways causing the left landing gear to collapse and substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N31YH
- Reported as
- Cessna A185F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18504258
- Airframe hours
- 4,329
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO 520 SERIES, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Mathews Nicholas A
- Registered owner
- Mathews Nicholas A
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 4, 2011
- Departed
- KO20 · Lodi, CA
- Destination
- KPIH · Pocatello, ID
- Airport
- KPIH · Pocatello Regional Airport, runway 21, 9,060 × 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
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 20, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,220 total · 999 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 11,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- KPIH
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 21, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 543 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.