- Date
- September 28, 2013, 11:50 local (18:50 UTC)
- Place
- Big Bear, CA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N759UPCessna 182Q
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration FSDO
- Case key
- 88151
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 a stabilized landing approach, which resulted in a collision with a fence short of the runway.
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
After an uneventful departure, climb, and cruise, the pilot performed a standard 45-degree entry into the traffic pattern at the high elevation airport. The airplane descended low during the final approach, and the pilot applied full forward throttle control. The engine responded; however, the descent was not arrested as he expected. The nose wheel then struck the airport perimeter fence, and the airplane came to rest against the side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall, lower fuselage, and right wing during the accident sequence. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The calculated density altitude for the runway elevation at the time of the accident was about 8,000 feet.
Factual narrative
After an uneventful departure, climb, and cruise, the pilot performed a standard 45-degree entry into the traffic pattern at the high elevation airport. The airplane descended low during the final approach, and the pilot applied full forward throttle control. The engine responded; however, the descent was not arrested as he expected. The nose wheel then struck the airport perimeter fence, and the airplane came to rest against the side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall, lower fuselage, and right wing during the accident sequence. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The calculated density altitude for the runway elevation at the time of the accident was about 8,000 feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N759UP
- Reported as
- Cessna 182Q (Q)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18266272
- Built
- 1978
- Airframe hours
- 8,195
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 19, 2013 · 44 hours before
- Departed
- KFUL · Fullerton, CA
- Destination
- L35 · Big Bear, CA
- Airport
- L35 · Big Bear City Airport, runway 08, 5,850 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Stall warning system
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
- 83
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 988 total · 150 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.28 inHg
- Observed at
- L35
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 9, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 911 KB in all.
Other investigations on N759UP · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.