- Date
- February 20, 2025, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Waterville, WA · 2S5
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7792ACessna 180A
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20250220001089A
- Case key
- 199747
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 roll.
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 receiving instruction reported that, during an instructional flight in a tailwheel equipped airplane, they were practicing crosswind takeoffs and landings. He performed a wheel landing and touched down left of the runway centerline, and during the landing roll, the left main landing gear contacted residual snow/slush on the runway near the base of a 3-ft tall snow berm. The airplane subsequently veered left and struck the snow berm on the runway edge before it came to rest nose low. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. At the time of the accident, the pilot was landing on runway 25, with the wind from 160° at 6 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7792A
- Reported as
- Cessna 180A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32689
- Built
- 1956
- Airframe hours
- 3,421.8
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 16, 2024 · 104.6 hours before
- Departed
- 8S2 · Cashmere, WA
- Destination
- 2S5 · Waterville, WA
- Airport
- 2S5 · Waterville, runway 07/25, 2,978 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 25, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 204.7 total · 7 in this make and model · 82.4 as pilot in command · 14.7 in the last 90 days · 4.1 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 82
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Military, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 24, 2025
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 5,570 total · 10 in this make and model · 4,725 as pilot in command · 11.2 in the last 90 days · 3.2 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 0.25 statute miles
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.24 inHg
- Observed at
- KEAT, 17 nm away
- METAR
- KEAT 201255Z AUTO 36004KT 1/4SM FZFG VV002 M01/M01 A3024 RMK AO2 SLP253 T10111011
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 9, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.1 MB 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.
Other investigations on N7792A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.