Cessna 182M N71784

Summary

On 5 July 2010 at about 20:00 local time, a Cessna 182M registered N71784, operated by White Sands Soaring Assoc Inc, was involved in an accident near Alamagordo, New Mexico, 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

5 July 2010 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Alamagordo, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Alamagordo Regional (ALM)

Coordinates

32.8372, -105.9878

Aircraft

Cessna 182M

Registration

N71784

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

White Sands Soaring Assoc Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Glider Tow

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Alamagordo → Alamagordo

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN10LA383

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's loss of airplane control during landing, which resulted in a hard/bounced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was returning to land after towing a glider to altitude. The wind was gusting up to 19 knots and shifting. The pilot made two attempts to land, but elected to go around each time due to a shimmy in the main landing gear. On the third attempt to land he switched to another runway, composed of dirt. During the landing, the airplane bounced and he elected to go around. Convinced that was something wrong with the landing gear, the pilot performed a low approach over the runway and asked ground personnel to visually check the landing gear; they verified that it looked normal. The pilot made another attempt to land and, during touchdown, the airplane bounced hard 2 to 3 times. Again, the pilot elected to go around and decided to try another landing on the original runway. After landing, the landing gear continued to shimmy and the airplane veered toward the right side of the runway. As the plane slowed, the pilot was able to taxi the airplane safely back to the ramp. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the firewall was wrinkled, the engine mounts were deformed, and the fuselage was damaged at the waterline. Flight control continuity was confirmed and no anomalies were found with the engine or other airplane systems.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.