Cessna 180 N9455C

Summary

On 2 August 2017 at about 03:00 local time, a Cessna 180 registered N9455C was involved in an accident near Puntilla, Alaska, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 August 2017 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Puntilla, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.9236, -153.0236

Aircraft

Cessna 180

Registration

N9455C

Category

Airplane

Year built

1955

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wasilla → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA17CA473

Nobody was injured.

The airplane’s encounter with a downdraft while maneuvering at a low altitude, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he made two passes over a dry creek bed to assess a potential landing site. The second pass was accomplished up-creek into rising terrain. The airplane was configured with full power and with flaps at 20°, and it was about 50 ft above ground level at 80 mph. The pilot reported that the airplane encountered a downdraft as it transitioned from overflying the trees to overflying the creek bed, which he attempted to correct, but the airplane aerodynamically stalled. Following the stall, the pilot attempted to land on a dry creek bed. The airplane touched down on the creek bed, then bounced and descended into a "dry cut channel." The airplane came to rest nose down in a near vertical position. The airplane was destroyed by a postcrash fire. According to the National Transportation Safety Board's Pilot Aircraft Accident Report, the pilot reported that the event could have been avoided by making the low pass along descending terrain at a higher airspeed. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.