- Date
- November 23, 2014, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- San Luis Obispo, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N97347Cessna 182Q
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 11, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration FSDO
- FAA report
- 20141123023479A
- Case key
- 90425
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 airplane control during the landing flare with a crosswind.
Findings · 3
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
**This report was modified on 10/9/2015. Please see the public docket for this accident to view the changes made to the original report.** The pilot of the airplane departed from a dirt airstrip in mountainous terrain earlier during the day, and was preparing to land at another mountain dirt airstrip. He reported that the wind was about 7 to 10 knots, and that he was flying a stabilized approach during the downwind, base, and final segments. As he initiated the landing flare, the wind changed to a right crosswind, and the right wing lifted. He was unable to keep the airplane on the runway centerline, and the airplane descended down an embankment into an adjacent creek. The airplane came to rest nose down in the creek bed, sustaining substantial damage to the firewall and forward fuselage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane departed from a dirt airstrip in mountainous terrain earlier during the day, and was preparing to land at another mountain dirt airstrip. He reported that the wind was about 7 to 10 knots, and that he was flying a stabilized approach during the downwind, base, and final segments. As he initiated the landing flare, the wind changed to a right crosswind, and the right wing lifted. He was unable to keep the airplane on the runway centerline, and the airplane descended down an embankment into an adjacent creek. The airplane came to rest nose down in the creek bed, sustaining substantial damage to the firewall and forward fuselage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N97347
- Reported as
- Cessna 182Q
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18267064
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 4,100
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO-550, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 1, 2014 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- MIT · Shafter, CA
- Destination
- NONE · San Luis Obispo, CA
- Airport
- NONE · Dirt Road, runway 33, 800 × 20 ft, dirt
- 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
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 22, 2013
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 390 total · 390 in this make and model · 390 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.26 inHg
- Observed at
- KSBP, 29 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 9, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 934 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.