Cessna 180A N889SL

Summary

On 5 July 2023 at about 17:10 local time, a Cessna 180A registered N889SL was involved in an accident near Grand Prairie, Texas, United States. 2 people were 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 2023 at 17:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Grand Prairie, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Grand Prairie Municipal (GPM)

Coordinates

32.6990, -97.0471

Aircraft

Cessna 180A

Registration

N889SL

Category

Airplane

Year built

1958

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grand Prairie → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN23LA275

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing. Contributing to the accident was the unexpected sudden wind shift.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot executed a wheel landing but before the tail wheel settled onto the runway, the airplane drifted to the right after encountering an unexpected wind shift. His efforts to maintain control were not successful. The airplane subsequently exited the runway and traversed across the grass towards a retention pond. In an attempt to stop the airplane before the pond, the pilot applied heavy braking, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The vertical stabilizer, rudder, left wing and lift strut sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He added that transitioning the tail wheel down onto the runway sooner instead of expediting his exit from the runway, he may have been able to maintain directional control during the wind shift.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.