Cessna 182 N3707U

Summary

On 30 August 2020 at about 18:56 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N3707U was involved in an accident near Millington, Maryland, United States. One person was 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

30 August 2020 at 18:56

Classification

Accident

Location

Millington, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Massey Aerodrome (MD1)

Coordinates

39.2918, -75.8022

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N3707U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1963

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Glider Tow

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Millington → Millington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA20CA300

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s misidentification of a corn field for the destination airport’s runway, and a subsequent aerodynamic stall at low altitude while attempting to land.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After a successful glider release, the pilot of the tow airplane was attempting to return to the turf runway at the departure airport. The pilot stated that he had difficulty locating the runway amongst the nearby corn fields and mistakenly aligned the airplane to land on a long swath of corn. During the landing attempt, and just as the pilot realized that the airplane was over corn and not the runway, the airplane “stalled” and impacted the ground. The airplane’s fuselage and wings were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.