Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Wentworth, New Hampshire 03282
Saturday, May 24, 1997 10:45 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The private pilot asked the owner of a field conveniently located to his business for permission to land. The pilot stated that he landed on grass runways previously, but never on unimproved surfaces. His preparation for the flight did not include an examination of the field conditions prior to the landing attempt. On landing rollout, the pilot stated that the field seemed rougher than anticipated. At 25 knots, the nose gear dug into a soft portion of the ground and the airplane flipped, coming to rest inverted.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Pilot's inadequate preflight planning to determine the suitability of an unimproved field for landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/24/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1045
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City WENTWORTH
Event State NEW HAMPSHIRE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 03282
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Unknown
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 550
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1052 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 215
Weather Observation Facility ID BML
Elevation of weather observation facility 1161
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 8000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1684
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 24 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1159
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:17PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N20892
NTSB Number IAD97LA077
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 182P
Aircraft Series Identifier 182P
Aircraft Serial Number 18261291
Certified Max Gross Weight 2950
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 18 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 100
Airframe Hours 2909
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN M. KING, JR.
Aircraft Owner Street Address EAST SIDE ROAD
Aircraft Owner City WENTWORTH
Aircraft Owner State NH
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 03282
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code NH12
Departure City PLYMOUTH
Departure State NH
Departure Country
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code NONE
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --