Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 182M near Alamagordo, NM — 2010-07-05

Final reportCEN10LA383
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Date
2010-07-05
Location
Alamagordo, NM, USA
Airport
ALM
Aircraft
CESSNA 182M
Registration
N71784
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The pilot's loss of airplane control during landing, which resulted in a hard/bounced landing.

NTSB narrative

The pilot was returning to land after towing a glider to altitude. The wind was gusting up to 19 knots and shifting. The pilot made two attempts to land, but elected to go around each time due to a shimmy in the main landing gear. On the third attempt to land he switched to another runway, composed of dirt. During the landing, the airplane bounced and he elected to go around. Convinced that was something wrong with the landing gear, the pilot performed a low approach over the runway and asked ground personnel to visually check the landing gear; they verified that it looked normal. The pilot made another attempt to land and, during touchdown, the airplane bounced hard 2 to 3 times. Again, the pilot elected to go around and decided to try another landing on the original runway. After landing, the landing gear continued to shimmy and the airplane veered toward the right side of the runway. As the plane slowed, the pilot was able to taxi the airplane safely back to the ramp. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the firewall was wrinkled, the engine mounts were deformed, and the fuselage was damaged at the waterline. Flight control continuity was confirmed and no anomalies were found with the engine or other airplane systems.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot should have aborted landing after first bounce instead of attempting again.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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