Cessna A185F N7802F

Summary

On 16 April 2009 at about 16:10 local time, a Cessna A185F registered N7802F, operated by New Tribes Mission Inc, was involved in an accident near Bisbee, Arizona, 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

16 April 2009 at 16:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Bisbee, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Private Ranch 47 (Priv)

Coordinates

31.5506, -109.9436

Aircraft

Cessna A185F

Registration

N7802F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

New Tribes Mission Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

McNeal → Bisbee

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09CA199

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight and inadequate recovery from a bounced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the flight instructor, the commercial pilot receiving instruction was practicing takeoffs and landings on a 900-foot-by-20-foot dirt airstrip in the tailwheel-equipped airplane. Due to the topography, landings at the airstrip are made to the south and takeoffs are made to the north. During the flight, the wind picked up to about 4 to 5 knots from the northwest, resulting in a right quartering tailwind for landing. During what was planned to be the last landing at the airstrip, the commercial pilot did not arrest the descent quickly enough, and the airplane bounced on touchdown and drifted left. The flight instructor called for full power and took control of the airplane. He maneuvered the airplane back towards the center of the airstrip, reduced power, and landed with the left main gear 1 foot off the left side of the airstrip and the right main near the middle of the airstrip. He said that he applied the brakes heavily and the airplane began to slow; however, the right main skidded on some hard bedrock, and before the flight instructor could get off the brakes, the airplane nosed over. Both wings and the vertical stabilizer sustained structural damage. The flight instructor commented that the accident could have been prevented "if we had quit landing there when the winds picked up."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.