Cessna 182 N6433A

Summary

On 4 April 2009 at about 21:21 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N6433A, operated by Fred Sand, was involved in an accident near Kalispell, Montana, 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

4 April 2009 at 21:21

Classification

Accident

Location

Kalispell, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Carson Field Airport (MT53)

Coordinates

48.3106, -114.2564

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N6433A

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Fred Sand

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Skydiving

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Kalispell → Kalispell

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09LA179

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power during a go-around for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was a fatigue failure of the right main landing gear spring.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane used for the skydiving operation was equipped with a foot step just above the right wheel, which the skydivers used to launch from the airplane. As the last of four skydivers stepped on the foot step, the right main landing gear fell away. The pilot reported that after he flew around for about 1 1/2 hours to burn off fuel, he intended to perform a low pass over the runway before coming around to land. The carburetor heat was turned on during the descent and, as he applied power to go around at midfield, the engine sputtered and lost partial power. The airplane was about 20 feet above ground level and he was able to maintain that altitude past the runway end before landing off the runway surface on snowy terrain. The airplane subsequently nosed over and came to rest inverted, sustaining substantial damage to both wings and the empennage. The carburetor heat was found in the “off” position; however, the investigation did not determine if the pilot turned off the carburetor heat or if it was pushed in by impact forces. Examination of the main landing gear revealed a fracture originating at the forward upper surface spring. The fracture surface displayed features indicative of fatigue cracking; the depth of the cracking was approximately 0.11 inches. An examination of the engine and carburetor revealed no anomalies that could account for the loss of partial power. The meteorological conditions were not conducive to carburetor icing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.