Truth Or Consequences Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Truth Or Conseq, New Mexico 87901
Saturday, April 5, 2003 15:38 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that when landing on runway 31, he encountered a "strong" gust of wind. He attempted to regain control, but the airplane departed the left side of the runway, went across a ditch, and struck a berm. The impact with the berm collapsed the nose landing gear, buckled the firewall, and displaced the right main landing gear. The pilot stated that at the time of the accident the wind was 220 degrees at 31 knots gusting to 45 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing roll which resulted in impact with terrain. Contributing factors include, the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision making, the crosswind and gusty wind conditions, the ditch, and the berm.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/5/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1538
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Truth or Conseq
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87901
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Truth or Consequences
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TCS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID TCS
Elevation of weather observation facility 4853
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 20
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 27
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.72
Density Altitude (feet) 6891
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14231
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Apr 7 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 806
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Albuquerque FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3749U
NTSB Number DEN03LA064
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 182G
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18255149
Certified Max Gross Weight 2800
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 Sep 6 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 4034.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Paul Dilger
Aircraft Owner Street Address P. O. Box 1517
Aircraft Owner City Peralta
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 87042
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 E80
Departure City Belen
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code TCS
Destination City Truth or Conseq
Destination State NM
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 21 2003 12:14PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 5599
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --