Cessna A185 N93018

Summary

On 23 December 2018 at about 03:30 local time, a Cessna A185 registered N93018 was involved in an accident near Big Lake, Alaska, 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

23 December 2018 at 03:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Big Lake, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.5375, -149.8503

Aircraft

Cessna A185

Registration

N93018

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Big Lake → Big Lake

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ANC19CA009

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper decision to land on a roadway during dark night conditions with inoperable landing and taxi lights, which resulted in an impact with a snow berm.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, upon returning from a short sightseeing flight in his tailwheel-equipped airplane, the landing and taxi lights would not illuminate. Due to the dark night conditions and the inoperable landing and taxi lights, the pilot chose to land on a roadway rather than the short ice-covered, private airstrip that he had used for departure. Unbeknownst to the pilot, a snow berm had been placed in the roadway. During the landing roll, the airplane struck the snow berm and nosed over The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, horizontal stabilizer, and rudder. The pilot reported that a postaccident examination revealed that the factory connection for the landing and taxi lights had failed at the 4-pin connector. The pilot reported no other mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot stated that the accident might have been prevented if the flight had been limited to daylight operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.