Cessna A185F N721

Summary

On 7 February 2000 at about 19:15 local time, a Cessna A185F registered N721, operated by U.s. Fish and Wildlife Service, was involved in an accident near Loveland, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 February 2000 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Loveland, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Fort Collins-Loveland Mun (FNL)

Coordinates

40.4097, -105.0693

Aircraft

Cessna A185F

Registration

N721

Category

Airplane

Operator

U.s. Fish and Wildlife Service

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Broomfield → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN00TA049

1 person had minor injuries.

Failure of the pilot in command to maintain directional control, resulting in an inadvertent ground loop. A factor was the crosswind.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor, seated in the right seat (who was not current in the airplane), had been giving the commercial (first) pilot, seated in the left seat, a biennial flight review (BFR). At the conclusion of the BFR, it was agreed that the flight instructor would make a full stop landing. A normal approach to runway 15 was flown in a 'moderate' right crosswind (5 to 10 knot, variable). A full stall landing was made with a slight crab into the crosswind. The tail wheel touched down first, followed by the main gear. The airplane then veered right and ground looped. The left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to a halt off the right side of runway 15.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.