Cessna 180 N2944C

Summary

On 16 July 2005 at about 19:20 local time, a Cessna 180 registered N2944C was involved in an accident near Prospect, Oregon, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 July 2005 at 19:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Prospect, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Prospect State Airport (64S)

Coordinates

42.7431, -122.4881

Aircraft

Cessna 180

Registration

N2944C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Medford → Prospect

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA05LA144

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision to perform a wheel landing with a 5 to 10 knot tail wind, and his subsequent loss of aircraft directional control during the landing roll. A tailwind and soft terrain were factors.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses said that the airplane performed a "low pass down runway 20 to the south." On witness said that the pilot made a "pulling turn up, 180 degree turn to land on runway 02." Several witnesses said that the pilot landed "long and fast"; the pilot performed a wheel landing on runway 02. The pilot reported that the wind was calm. One witness said that the wind was "about 5-7 MPH out of the South." Another witness said that the wind was approximately 10 Knots from the south (180 degrees). The pilot reported that during the landing roll, the airplane's tail wheel "shimmied violently" and the airplane departed the left side of the runway. He said that the ground was soft, and the airplane nosed over damaging both wings and the left wing strut. Photographs of the runway show two equally black skid marks veering left off runway 02, and the extension of those marks continue in the gravel and grass to the nosed over airplane. The aircraft recovery personnel said that once the airplane was "up righted," they found that both brakes worked normally.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.