Cessna A185 N4622C

Summary

On 6 September 2010 at about 21:20 local time, a Cessna A185 registered N4622C was involved in an accident near Santa Ynez, California, United States. 4 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

6 September 2010 at 21:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Ynez, California, United States

Nearest airport

Santa Ynez Airport (IZA)

Coordinates

34.6067, -120.0756

Aircraft

Cessna A185

Registration

N4622C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Ynez → Santa Ynez

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR10CA480

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control, likely due to the inadvertent control interference by a passenger. A finding in the accident was the pilot's improper pre flight briefing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, the start up and run up were normal. After attaining 65 knots during the takeoff roll, the pilot raised the tail and the airplane started to "track hard right" and the left landing gear tire struck a taxiway sign. The taxiway sign broke off and punctured the fuselage skin and struck the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot returned to the airport, and landed without further incident. In the pilot's written statement he indicated that he had not briefed the forward right seat passenger to remain clear of all flight controls, and that he did not retract the right side rudder pedals. He surmised that the right seat passenger inadvertently applied pressure to the right toe brake. The pilot further stated that in the future he will incorporate that into his briefing (to remain clear of the flight controls), and to retract the right side rudder pedals. This event was upgraded to an accident on October 1, 2010, by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after an inspection discovered structural damage to the left landing gear attach box and the leading edge of the right horizontal stabilizer.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.